Three bodies and a dilapidated wooden boat believed to have come from North Korea washed ashore in northern Japan on Monday, coast guard officials said.
The coast guard said a Japanese fishing boat picked up a male body floating off the coast of Sakata in Yamagata prefecture and two more bodies washed up on a nearby beach an hour and half later. The bodies were decomposed, but one of them had a lapel pin thought to be North Korean.
Officials are investigating if the bodies were from a boat that washed ashore 2 Dec.
Winds and water currents push dozens of boats onto Japan's northern coasts annually. Rickety North Korean fishing boats are particularly vulnerable because they lack the sturdiness and equipment to return home.But the alarming pace over the past few weeks has prompted Japanese authorities to step up patrols.
Twenty-eight of the vessels dubbed ``ghost boats'' were detected in November, up from just four in November last year. Usually, only the boats or fragments wash ashore. It is very rare for survivors to be rescued and brought ashore by the Japanese.
The increase may be related to a campaign led by Kim Jong Un to boost fish harvests as a means of increasing sources of protein for the nation, which continues to fall short of food self-sufficiency and remains vulnerable to health problems caused by the lack of a varied, balanced diet.
In order to reach their quotas, the North Korean fishermen may be taking more risks and venturing farther from their usual waters.
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