Bodies found in ‘ghost ships’ off the coast of Japan

The Japanese coast guard has been hauling in dead bodies for the past two months. According to NBC News, they were able to retrieve 20 to 25 bodies found in 11 “ghost ships” drifting along the shoreline of the Sea of Japan from North (Hokkaido) to South (Fukui).

Based on scraps of cloth printed with the Korean alphabet that were found, authorities believe that the boats were drawn to Japanese shores. According to the Independent, the most recent boat pulled into a Fukui port was seen about 62 miles out at sea which had several decomposing bodies onboard.

NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, reported that a piece of cloth found was thought to be a portion of the North Korean flag. Also written on the side of the boat was “Korean People’s Army.” Some experts disclosed that the dead may have been refugees who tried to flee from their homeland. Since 2013, around 175 boats have strayed from Korea to Japan.  So far, survivors have told the coast guard that they were fishermen from North Korea.