Japan finds missile in suspected N.Korea spy ship

msnbc ^ | june 26 | reuters

[maui_hawaii]

TOKYO, June 26 — A suspected North Korean spy ship that sank last year after an exchange of fire with Japanese coastguards was armed with sophisticated weapons -- including an anti-aircraft missile, Japanese sources said on Wednesday.

Japanese divers had spotted a mobile anti-aircraft missile, portable anti-tank grenade launchers and machineguns in the ship, which sank in Chinese waters in December, the government sources said.

The missile was identifed as an Igla-2 surface-to-air missile developed by the former Soviet Union with a range of about 3,800 metres (yards), the sources said.

''It is truly terrifying that the mystery ship was so heavily armed, much more so than we had thought,'' one Japanese government source told Reuters, on condition of anonymity.

A government spokesman declined to confirm that weapons had been found in the ship.

''I know it has been reported in the media. But I think it is based on speculation,'' Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kosei Ueno told reporters.

The revelation of weapons aboard the mystery ship was likely to further chill ties between Pyongyang and Tokyo and comes as Japan starts to raise the vessel, which lies at a depth of 90 metres (300 ft) in the East China Sea.

Officials said it would take at least a month to salvage the 100-tonne vessel, which Japanese intelligence sources believe was on a spying or drug smuggling mission from Pyongyang and sank after Japan's coastguard fired at it for intruding into Japan's economic zone.

''We may find more weapons, gadgets and various other things that will help us identify the nationality of the ship and find out the reasons why the ship intruded into our waters,'' a second Japanese government source said.

The sunken ship is 500 km (310 miles) southeast of Kagoshima and just within China's 370 km (200 nautical mile) economic waters.

China, one of the few remaining allies of communist North Korea, agreed last week to allow Japan to salvage the vessel.

SMEAR CAMPAIGN

North Korea has accused Japan of mounting a smear campaign over the ship and has threatened unspecified counter-measures.

Analysts say the discovery of the missile and other lethal weapons will fan anti-North Korea sentiment in Japan.

''The fact that the ship was carrying such weapons will prompt Japanese to harbour more ill feelings against North Korea,'' said Hajime Izumi, a Korea expert at Shizuoka Prefectural University near Tokyo. ''That will certainly stand in the way of normalisation talks between Japan and North Korea.''

Diplomatic sources said this week that Japan's plan to salvage the ship could cause Pyongyang to postpone sensitive talks between Japanese and North Korean Red Cross officials.

During talks between Red Cross officials in Beijing in April, North Korea agreed to intensify a search for at least 11 Japanese nationals that Tokyo says were abducted by North Korea and forced either to be spies or to train spies.

North Korea denies the charges.

Japan and North Korea began normalisation talks in 1991 but the North ended them when Japan raised the abduction issue. Full-scale talks resumed in 2000 but failed to make progress.

[Clara Lou]

That "Axis of Evil" label fits, doesn't it?

[maui_hawaii]

Those loons actually SHOT a missile over the top of Japan before...

[Wave Rider]

Maybe it is time for Japan to get their head out of their BACKSIDE and do some rethinking of when where and how they will take on North Korea...

[Ranger]

Wednesday, 26 June, 2002, 09:30 GMT 10:30 UK

Japan 'finds missiles' on mystery boat
 

Japan's coast guard say the mystery ship fired on them
 

An anti-aircraft missile and other weapons have reportedly been found on a suspected North Korean spy ship which sank after a gun battle with the Japanese coast guard last year.

The ship was engaged in a six-hour chase
 

Reports from Japan said the weapons were spotted by divers during an underwater survey of the ship.

High waves in the East China Seas have forced Japan's coast guard to delay for a second day plans to salvage the vessel.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has denied having anything to do with the boat.

Sophisticated arsenal

Japanese government sources said a Russian surface-to-air heat-seeking missile, portable anti-tank grenade launchers and machine guns were seen on the ship.

"It is truly terrifying that the mystery ship was so heavily armed, much more so than we had thought," one Japanese government source told Reuters news agency, on condition of anonymity.

However Japanese officials would not confirm the reports.

"I know it has been reported in the media. But I think it is based on speculation," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kosei Ueno told reporters on Wednesday.

North Korean links

Earlier reports quoted Japanese officials as saying that pictures showed the crew of the foreign boat using shoulder-held rocket launchers, similar to Soviet-made weapons that are known to be in North Korea's arsenal.

Japan is conducting an inquiry into the incident
 

All 15 crew on board are thought to have died and the ship is now lying in 90 metres (295 feet) of water at the bottom of the East China Sea.

The bodies of two of the crew members have been recovered. Both had items with labels in Korean.

The mystery boat sank on 22 December after a six-hour chase and fire fight with Japanese patrol ships.

The vessel, having failed to heed Japanese warning shots and an order to stop, fled in the direction of China before it sank.

It was initially believed to have been sunk by Japanese fire, but Japan has raised the possibility that the crew scuttled the ship.

Salvage operation

The ship sank near Chinese territorial waters, in what Beijing calls its exclusive economic zone, but where Japan claims the right to protect its fishing and mineral resources.

China gave Japan permission last week to raise the ship, provided both countries discussed compensation for what China says is damage caused to its fisheries by Japanese patrols.

The Japanese coast guard says the inquiry is a "criminal investigation" into attempted murder, as the vessel had returned fire after the coast guard fired warning shots.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2066000/2066918.stm