“Unidentified Sunken Ship Suicide“

December 22, East China Sea. The crew on an unidentified ship exchanged fire with Japan Coast Guard patrol boat and is likely to have committed collective suicide in order to avoid arrest. The Coast Guard also concluded that the crew on the ship committed suicide.

According to the Coast Guard on the 25th, one of the two bodies found on the scene has a wound where a bullet passed through. Since fire from the Coast Guard`s 20mm machine gun would have done considerable damage to the bodies, the lack of any other wound except the bullet wound is leading the Coast Guard to suspect that the crew took their own lives.

Furthermore, it has been confirmed that fifteen other crew members jumped into the sea before the ship sank (recorded on Coast Guard ships` infrared cameras) but did not hold receive the rescue tubes.

The footage caught on infrared cameras mounted on the Japan Coast Guard patrol boat and aircraft showed two explosions occurring in the midsection of the boat immediately before the boat sank around 10:11 am on the 22nd. The Coast Guard concluded that the explosions made a hole in the boat and sunk it.

Mr. Ogi Jikage of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced, "We will recover the sunken ship." Makiko Tanaka, Foreign Minister of Japan, stated, "If it is confirmed that the ship was a North Korean ship, we will have to take measures regardless of protest." Involved sources say that there is a possibility of economic sanctions as well.

The Japanese government was shocked at the fact that the ship fired rockets and is reportedly considering amending the regulations on maritime security to enable seizing ships outside Japanese territory, amending self-defense laws in order to enlist the help of Maritime Self-Defense Force, and building high-speed patrol boats and arming with mid-size artillery.

The rocket launcher used by the unidentified ship was found to be a Soviet model RPG7 used in the 1980s.

ksshim@donga.com