is a Japanese term that generally refers to any seaborne vessel that behaves suspiciously. In Japan, this term is often used to refer to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n vessels found in the waters near Japan which are suspected of criminal activity, such as

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

North Korean fushin-sen

The term ''fushin-sen'' has become synonymous with North Korean vessels that serve as a connection between North Korean criminal activity and the

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

. There are incidents of fushin-sen being involved in the smuggling of agents,

illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

, and

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

, as well as the abduction and

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

of Japanese people. According to the former Secretary of the

Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the Security agency, domestic intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice (Japan), Ministry of Justice and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based o ...

, criminal activity such as

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

and front companies are suspected of using fushin-sen to supply drugs to the Yakuza, who already have connections with North Korean agents and institutions.Osamu Eya, "North Korea's Infiltration Work Against Japan" --What is the purpose of the suspicious ship?, Takarajimasha, 2002 Fushin-sen are used by a special unit of the North Korean regime, and the operatives on board are carefully selected. These operatives may be trained in combat tactics, such as sniping and Kyeok Sul Do. They may also have advanced foreign language skills, used to impersonate citizens and establish permanent residency in their destination. Operatives smuggled into Japan by seacraft are usually concealed and blend in as members of society, while they gather intelligence or carry out orders. Such operatives may coerce others to carry out criminal activities for them. In Japan, several such operatives are wanted by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. Since 1999, the Japanese police and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

are actively working to educate civilians about the fushin-sen issue and the dangers they pose to public safety. In coastal areas, prefectural police headquarters and police stations have been conducting active seminars for companies and fishermen since the 1950s. It has not always been possible to prevent abduction and smuggling. The Japan Coast Guard recommends that citizens call 118 (the telephone number for emergency calls for incidents and accidents at sea in Japan) if a person witnesses a suspicious ship that appears to be of North Korean origin.

Features

The following list describes possible features of suspected North Korean fushin-sen: * The ship may be (or be disguised as) a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese or Chinese

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

; or as a North Korean

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

. * The ship may be equipped with a large number of antennas, which improve the signal of wireless equipment such as shortwave radios. * The ship's mast may be equipped with radar more powerful than those of normal fishing boats. This is used to quickly detect the approach of

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

vessels and fishery patrol boats, in order to take evasive action. * The ship may have unused fishing gear mounted on the bow, or none at all. * The ship may contain a small, high-speed boat for landing (often similar to small, coastal Japanese fishing boats) and a door at the ship's stern for deploying it. When infiltrating

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, a

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: *Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface *S ...

may be installed. This is because in South Korea, if a suspected spy ship attempts to escape, the ROK Navy will sink it. * The ship's lights may be switched off in order to facilitate covert drop-offs during nighttime. * The ship may contain hidden weapons. An investigation of the North Korean vessel used in the Spy Ship Incident in the Southwest Sea of Kyūshū revealed that it was equipped with a large number of weapons, including

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

weapons and

anti-tank weapons Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

. * The ship may be equipped with engines atypically powerful for fishing boats. This enables high-speed navigation equal to or higher than that of

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as ...

. However, when a research team at the Japan Coast Guard Academy inspected a suspicious ship that was pulled up during the Battle of Amami-Oshima in the southwestern part of Kyushu, it seems that the speed will drop significantly in bad weather with a wave height of or more. * A (North Korean) contact ashore may communicate with a suspicious ship offshore at night using a light emitting signal or a

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

, from a vehicle such as a rental car. In particular, freight vehicles—such as cold storage trucks and aluminum vans—are preferred when accepting operatives and smuggled goods.

Encounters

Niigata JRCS Center Bombing Attempt

On December 4, 1959, the

n government conducted a joint return project for

Koreans in Japan () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

with the Japanese Red Cross Society. In response, the North Korean government and Koreans in Japan jointly carried out terrorist activities, such as the bombing of trains and ships in Japan and the abductions of important people.

Kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...

, a South Korean politician, was living in exile in Japan due to his opposition to the power regime in South Korea at that time. On August 8, 1973, as he left a meeting in Tokyo, he was kidnapped by agents working for the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He was taken to Osaka and put aboard a boat which sailed towards South Korea. The vessel was tracked by an airplane of the Japanese Maritime Defense Force which fired an illuminating shell as the kidnappers brought Kim (with weights attached to him) on deck, apparently intending to drown him. The vessel continued to South Korea and Kim was put under house arrest. In 1998, Kim became the president of South Korea.

Suspicious ship off the Noto Peninsula

On March 23, 1999, a ship believed to be a North Korean craft ship appeared off the Noto Peninsula in the Sea of Japan. It was tracked by the Japan Coast Guard and the Maritime Self-Defense Force. For the first time, the Maritime Self-Defense Force was issued a maritime security action, a ''de facto'' battle order. The craft ship was missed, but this incident triggered the realization of hull shooting and the maintenance of patrol boats due to the revision of the Japan Coast Guard Law, as well as the formation of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Special Boarding Unit and on-site inspection team with escort vessels.

Kyushu Southwest Sea Area Fushin-sen Incident (Battle of Amami-Ōshima)

On December 22, 2001, an unidentified vessel was detected in the East China Sea off the southwest coast of Kyushu. Four Coast Guard ships approached the vessel and ordered it to halt. When it did not, the Coast Guard fired warning shots, and the unidentified vessel returned fire. A six-hour gun battle ensued, ending when the unidentified vessel apparently

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

itself, leaving no survivors. In 2003, Japan raised the hull in order to identify the vessel and determined that it was a North Korean spy ship.

Other incidents

* Suspicious ship off the coast of Kaga City (July 31, 1971). * Hyuga Nada Suspicious Ship Case (April 25–27, 1985). * Mihama Incident (October 28, 1990): An incident in which a small boat for landing was washed ashore on the coast of Mihama-cho, Mikata-gun, Fukui Prefecture.For more information, se
Mihama case seen in the picture (Fukui Prefectural Police)
/ref> * North Korean semi-submersible sinking incident (December 18, 1998): A suspicious ship found by South Korean coastal guards invading South Korean waters fled into Japanese waters. When the South Korean Navy pursued the ship, an incident occurred in which it was sunk on the open sea off Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture. A later pull-up investigation revealed that the suspicious ship was a North Korean semi-submersible. Until March 1999, the Japan Coast Guard strengthened vigilance off the coast of Tsushima and provided crime prevention guidance to residents of Tsushima and the Goto Islands. * Suspicious Ship Case in Central Sea of Japan (September 4–5, 2002). * '' Man Gyong Bong 92'', a cargo-passenger

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

between Japan and North Korea which ran from 1992 until 2006, was claimed to be used for smuggling.Shipper, Apichai W. (2010). "Nationalisms of and against Zainichi Koreans in Japan". The Washington Times. doi:10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01167.x.

Notes

References

External links

About fushin-sen/suspicious ship cases (Japan Coast Guard)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904204642/http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/info/news/h14/fushinsen/index.html , date=2006-09-04 Crime in North Korea Anti-North Korean sentiment in Japan Anti-Japanese sentiment in North Korea 20th-century naval battles Naval trawlers Combat incidents Japan–North Korea relations Human rights in North Korea Illegal drug trade in Asia Terrorism in Japan Foreign relations of North Korea Economy of North Korea 21st-century naval battles