A North Korean crewed boat (centre) tries to flee from Japan Coast Guard vessels off Hakodate on Friday, where it was held by authorities for possibly plundering a remote Japanese fishing hut. (Kyodo News photo)SAPPORO: Police in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands, said Saturday they had arrested three of the crew members of a North Korean fishing boat on suspicion of plundering a remote fishing hut. On Friday, the crew cut ropes tethering their boat to a Japanese coast guard vessel near Hakodate port and tried to flee, but the vessel was recaptured later that day. The boat with 10 crew members had been impounded on Nov 30, two days after being spotted washed ashore on an uninhabited island off the town of Matsumae. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Saturday that the police, the Japan Coast Guard and the Self-Defense Forces will work together in dealing with the recently increasing number of North Korean boats arriving along the coast of Japan.

Source: Bangkok Post December 09, 2017 06:33 UTC