Japan finds 8 men, 1 body believed to be from North Korea

The wreckage of a North Korean fishing boat is pictured along a sea wall in the city of Yurihonjo, Japan
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Police in the oceanfront town of Yurihonjo, Japan, on Friday took into custody eight men believed to have arrived on Japanese shores from North Korea. "We understand that the eight individuals are reporting that they came from North Korea for fishing, but drifted there after their ship experienced [mechanical] troubles," said Hachiro Okonogi of Japan's National Public Safety Commission. If past precedent holds, the men will be returned to North Korea.

Then, on Saturday, the Japanese Coast Guard found a body on Sado island, which is on the same westerly side of Japan's main island, Honshu, as Yurihonjo. The man is likewise believed to be North Korean, as his body was found with cigarettes and other personal items with Korean writing. His cause of death is unknown, as is whether he was a would-be defector or simply another fisherman whose equipment failed. Parts of a wooden boat were located nearby.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.