76 North Korean 'ghost ships' appear in Japan

Japanese authorities and public opinion are confused by the increasing number of fishing boats carrying dead bodies and living people from North Korea drifting to this country. In 2017, 76 North Korean "ghosts" appeared.is the statistic that the Japanese Coast Guard recently announced.

A North Korean “ghost ship” drifts ashore in Japan

According to AFP, in November, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) discovered 28 fishing boats originating from the DPRK drifting into the waters of many prefectures of this country. This is the highest number since Japanese authorities began compiling data on this phenomenon in 2014.

Since the beginning of 2017, a total of 76 ships, dubbed “ghost ships” by local media, have appeared in Japan. Of these, JCG discovered 18 bodies and rescued 42 people. So far, the Japanese government has handled the matter by cremating the bodies and detaining the survivors for a thorough investigation.

Amid escalating tensions in the region, the sudden appearance of “ghost ships” has many residents worried. “I am very concerned about why so many unknown ships have appeared in such a short period of time,” Kazuko Komatsu, a resident of the port city of Yurihonjo, told The New York Times.

On November 23, Yurihonjo authorities rescued eight North Korean sailors from a drifting ship, and the next day, local newspapers headlined: “Are they spies?”

In particular, many people, especially the elderly, are still haunted by the incidents of North Korean commandos infiltrating and kidnapping Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2002, the Pyongyang government admitted to holding 13 Japanese citizens and later released five. North Korea claimed the rest were dead, but there are also opinions that they are still living in the country.

“I suspect they are trying to kidnap someone,” said Mariko Abe, 66, who also lives in Yurihonjo. In an effort to calm public opinion, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said midweek that the rescued North Korean sailors were not spies.

On the other hand, “ghost ships” also cause some complicated manifestations of security and order. According to NHK, at the end of November, a North Korean ship appeared near a remote Japanese island to take shelter from a typhoon. After they left, people discovered many stolen properties including televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, etc.

Meanwhile, all North Korean sailors told Japanese officials that they were fishermen and that their ship had encountered trouble due to bad weather, running out of fuel or mechanical problems.

Analysts believe this explanation, The Guardian reported. According to them, seafood exports have become an important source of foreign currency for North Korea due to the tightening of sanctions by the UN and many countries, while fishing grounds have been reduced after Pyongyang sold fishing rights in some areas of the Yellow Sea to China last year.

To meet their targets and improve their livelihoods, more and more fishermen are having to venture further afield. “They are not properly trained in the necessary skills. When they face the fierce ocean in old boats, they are in real trouble,” said Professor Satoru Miyamoto of Seigakuin University (Japan).

According to Thanhnien