The coast guard of Japan announced this Sunday the discovery of the remains of seven people in a destroyed fishing vessel, possibly North Korean, stranded on the coast of a Japanese island. The bodies were found on Saturday inside a ship on the coast of the island of Sado , about 900 kilometers from North Korea.

"Five of the bodies have been identified as corresponding to men, but the other two have not been identified" because they are in an advanced state of decomposition, an official explained to Afp. According to the same source, "there have been similar cases but it is the first time we discovered bodies in such a damaged boat on this island this year."

According to the official, the ship's hull was split in half, and although no concrete evidence of his nationality was found, it is possible to see North Korean alphabet inscriptions on the vessel. The local press notes that the Japanese police and the Coast Guard are investigating the case, suspecting that it is a ship that departed from North Korea.

The ship has an inscription in North Korean characters. JAPAN COAST GUARD

So far this year, at least 156 allegedly North Korean fishing vessels have reached the shores of Japan or have been found adrift in Japanese waters, according to Yomiuri Shimbun .

Experts point out that some North Korean fishermen travel further and further at sea to comply with the government's mandates on increased catches. But their boats, old and poorly equipped, are prone to mechanical problems and fuel depletion offshore.

Some of those ships arrive on the Japanese coast with the crew members already dead, and are baptized as "ghost ships" by local media. Last year, 10 North Koreans rescued from a small wooden boat drifting from northern Japan were deported.

In October, about 60 members of a North Korean fishing vessel were rescued after their ship sank following a collision with a Japanese patrol in the Sea of ​​Japan .

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