Posted on 12/30/2001 7:46:57 PM PST by BigBlueJon
TOKYO (Reuters) - A suspected North Korean ship that sank after an exchange of gunfire with Japanese patrol boats last week sent a suicide message before it sank, Japanese media reported on Monday.
Although the unidentified ship went down with the apparent loss of all 15 hands following the exchange on December 22, the cause of the sinking remains unknown. Officials have speculated that it may have been scuttled.
Citing Defense Agency and police sources, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) said that among radio signals picked up by an agency monitoring facility were messages saying the crew was prepared to commit suicide if they could not break away from their Japanese pursuers. "We will blow ourselves up and fulfill our duty," an internet phone message from the mystery boat reportedly said.
A Defense Agency official said he was unable to comment on the report.
However, the Japanese Coast Guard said last week that there was a possibility the ship blew its engine room and sank on purpose.
Media reports last week said the Defense Agency had picked up the ship's radio signals on a frequency used by North Korea, and the Nikkei said on Monday the Defense Agency was still working to decode all the messages sent by the boat.
ASKED PERMISSION TO FIRE BACK
In an earlier message, the crew had said they were being fired on and asked if it was all right to fire back, the Nikkei quoted the sources as saying.
The mystery ship was first spotted in Japan's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and Japanese vessels fired warning shots when it tried to flee.
North Korea has strongly denied any connection to the ship, accusing Japan of mounting a smear campaign and threatening unspecified countermeasures.
However, there has been a recent series of media reports quoting official sources and pointing to a North Korean connection to the incident.
Japan's Kyodo news agency on Sunday quoted informed sources as saying that, based on analysis of U.S. satellite photos, the sunken ship appeared to have been with at least one other ship, which appeared to have returned to North Korean shores.
Other reports said Defense Agency records showed at least 27 sightings of unidentified boats in waters near Japan since 1945. None were captured but many are suspected of being North Korean. Japan said it acted in self-defense after the ship opened fire, hitting two patrol boats and wounding three crew, after Japanese vessels fired warning shots when the ship tried to flee.
The ship was chased into China's EEZ, where it sank.
The Japanese government has expressed interest in trying to salvage the boat for investigation, which could provide it with valuable information on how advanced North Korea is in the area of technical surveillance.
The secretive nation is one of the world's poorest countries but is believed to have advanced military capability.
However, China may object to a salvage operation on the grounds it could harm the environment and fishing in the area.
Why won't anyone tell me what happened to the 16th hand!?
This sounds fishy.
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