Fushin-sen ( ja, 不審船, translation=Suspicious Ship) 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 Korean vessels found in the waters near Japan which are suspected of criminal activity, such as

poaching Poaching has been defined as 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 a ...

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. There are various ...

.Maritime Security Study Group, "Books for Understanding North Korean Craft Ships", 2004, Narishando Bookstore

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 ...

. 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 the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...

, and

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

, 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. There are various ...

of Japanese people. According to the former Secretary of the

Public Security Intelligence Agency The is the national intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice in the government of Japan, and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive A ...

, criminal activity such as

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and

front companies A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

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 A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

and

Kyeok Sul Do Kyeok Sul Do (Hangul: 격술도) - also often romanized as Gjogsul - is a martial art created in Democratic People's Republic of Korea (i.e. North Korea) that is practised primarily in the Korean People's Army and its intelligence agencies. ...

. 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 (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

. The

Japanese police The is a law enforcement agency under the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office. It is the central agency of the Japanese police system, and the central coordinating agency of law enforcement in situations of national emer ...

and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a 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 customs and security duties to ...

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 ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese or

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was es ...

; 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 seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

. * The ship may be equipped with a large number of antennas, which improve the signal of wireless equipment such as

shortwave radios Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (10 ...

. * 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 , 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 (IJN) ...

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, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, 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 *Se ...

may be installed. This is because in South Korea, if a suspected spy ship attempts to escape, the

ROK Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy inc ...

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, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

weapons and

anti-tank weapons Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

. * 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 built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and ...

. However, when a research team at the

Japan Coast Guard Academy The (JCGA) is a university-level service academy established within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for the purpose of training students to become Coast guard officers. It is located in Kure, Hiroshima prefecture. Th ...

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, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

, 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 comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

with the

Japanese Red Cross Society The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

. 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 Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

, 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 Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

. 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 deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

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 The ''Man Gyong Bong 92'' is a cargo-passenger ferry, named after a hill near Pyongyang. The ferry was built in 1992 with funds from Chongryon, the pro-North Korean General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, and was used to transport passe ...

'', a cargo-passenger

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

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 Naval battles post-1945 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