TOKYO (AP) – They drift into seas near Japan by the dozens every year, ghostly wrecked ships thought to come from impoverished North Korea.
Japanese authorities said Tuesday they are investigating nearly a dozen wooden boats carrying decomposing bodies that were found off the country’s northwestern coast over the past month.
In most cases, the bodies are in such bad shape after being at sea for weeks that it’s been impossible to determine their cause of death, officials say.
On Nov. 20, officials found 10 bodies in three boats off the coast of Ishikawa prefecture. Two days later, another wooden boat was found off nearby Fukui prefecture with six skulls, one nearly intact body with a head, and various other bones and remains, coast guard official Yuka Amao told The Associated Press.
Coast guard officials said at least 11 shoddy fishing boats carrying the bodies have arrived since late October. Most are carrying equipment, nets and signs written in Korean, including one carrying a sign saying “Korean People’s Army,” the North Korean army.