Japanese coast guard officials were scheduled to conduct a walk-on inspection of a wooden North Korean vessel carrying 10 men that was drifting off the northern island of Hokkaido, local media reported on Thursday.
A coast guard boat was towing the ship to an area seven kilometers off Kikonai town on the island to talk to the crew members and inspect the vessel’s cargo, Hokkaido newspaper reported.
The coast guard found the vessel drifting in rough seas in the Tsugaru Strait on Tuesday, the paper said.
The crew told the coast guard they approached the island to avoid bad weather conditions, the report said.
The inspection came one day after North Korea tested a new, longer-range ballistic missile and said it now had a “state nuclear force.”
Japanese authorities have spotted more North Korean ships and derelict boats in the Sea of Japan recently.
On Monday, a wooden vessel with eight dead bodies on board washed up on the coast of Akita prefecture.
The unidentified boat was believed to have come from North Korea, local media reported.
Another boat carrying eight men claiming to be from North Korea drifted to a nearby beach in the prefecture just a week ago.
Local police took the men into protective custody for questioning.
Earlier this month, the coast guard rescued three North Korean crew members from their capsised fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan and handed them over to another North Korean ship.(Reuters/NAN)
