Dec 10 (Japan Today) - Police in Hokkaido said Saturday they had arrested three of the crew members of a North Korean fishing boat on suspicion of plundering a remote fishing hut.
On Friday the crew cut ropes tethering their boat to a Japanese coast guard vessel near Hakodate port and tried to flee, but the vessel was recaptured later that day.
The boat with 10 crew members had been impounded on Nov 30, two days after being spotted washed ashore on an uninhabited island off the town of Matsumae. The Hokkaido police have been questioning the crew.
The three were arrested on suspicion of stealing a power generator, which was found on their boat, police sources said.
The Immigration Bureau has taken custody of six other members while one has been hospitalized after complaining of ill health. Doctors said he had a gastric ulcer.
The 10 North Koreans are believed to have destroyed a boiler at a refuge hut on the island and stolen electronic appliances and other items, the sources said.
They stripped the generator for its parts and removed a door knob from the hut where they took shelter due to bad weather.
Another generator at a different hut, used to supply water and electricity to the refuge hut, is missing, the sources said.
The items the North Koreans are suspected of stealing include a television, a motorcycle and a solar panel.
Source: ANNnewsCH
