North Korean ghost boats, in deadly hunt for fish, wash up in Japan

An unidentified wooden boat which was found in the sea off Noto Peninsula, is seen in Wajima, Japan. A number of boats containing dead bodies have been washed up on Japan's shores since October but auShow more

TOKYO // Fishing boats carrying decomposed corpses have washed ashore in Japan in recent weeks, leading to speculation they are rickety North Korean vessels that have strayed dangerously far from port under the impoverished nation’s push to boost its catch.

There has been no mention from secretive North Korea of any missing boats, but its leader Kim Jong-un has put a high priority on fishing as a way of earning foreign currency and providing a sustainable food source that is not reliant on harvests and weather.

The Japanese coast guard and police reported 12 incidents of wrecked wooden boats, including some that were in pieces.

The boats – containing 22 dead bodies, including five skulls –have been washing up on the country’s shores since October.

Japanese authorities declined to comment on the origins of the boats or the possible identities of the dead, but a hand-written sign identified one boat as belonging to unit 325 of the North Korean army, according to footage from Japan’s NHK Television. Tattered cloth was found aboard the vessel that appeared to come from the North Korean flag, the video showed.

Defectors and experts say fishing boats under the command of the army may have succumbed under pressure from Mr Kim to catch more fish, drifting off course and ill-equipped for rough seas.

TV images of some of the boats showed relatively large but otherwise primitive-looking motorised craft and the coast guard said they did not have GPS navigation systems. Those aboard could have died of starvation and exposure to the cold after getting lost.

Although Japan’s meteorological agency said that the weather was not unusually bad in the Sea of Japan this November, although the waters are rougher at this time of year.

October through February is also prime season for squid, sandfish and king crab off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, and it is not unusual for high numbers of boats to be at sea, said Kim Do-hoon, a professor of fisheries science at Bukyong National University in Busan.

“Kim Jong-un has been promoting the fisheries, which could explain why there are more fishing boats going out,” he said.

“But North Korean boats perform really poorly, with bad engines, risking lives to go far to catch more. Sometimes they drift and fishermen starve to death,” he said.

Over the years, North Korean boats seeking the rich fishing grounds of the Sea of Japan have washed ashore in Japan as well as on the deserted beaches of the Russian far east.

North Koreans looking to defect, on the other hand, typically flee by land into China, or via coastal waters to neighbouring South Korea.

Fishing is a vital industry in a country where millions cannot find enough to eat. North Korea’s 1.2 million-strong army is heavily engaged in food production, including fishing.

* Reuters