The North Korean ship sank about half an hour after the collision, Japan’s coast guard said. The North Korean boat had made an unauthorized entry into the Japanese exclusive economic zone and the collision occurred just as the Japanese patrol boat was warning it to move out, Kuwahara told reporters. Experts say the increase in North Korean squid poaching is due to the country’s campaign to boost fish harvests. In June, Japan’s coast guard pushed more than 300 North Korean boats back from the same waters where Monday’s incident occurred. Japan also said an armed North Korean fishing boat aimed a gun at and “threatened” a Japanese patrol ship in August.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 07, 2019 07:07 UTC