'Second suspicious ship' spotted off Japan

TOKYO, Japan -- The Japanese Coast Guard said Tuesday it was investigating reported sightings of a second suspicious ship in the Sea of Japan, just days after a suspected North Korean spy vessel sank in the same area.

Officials said a small fleet of patrol boats and several aircraft had been dispatched in pursuit of the vessel, first reported to the authorities by Japanese fishermen.

Earlier transportation minister Chikage Ogi announced plans to raise the suspected spy ship that sank over the weekend after trading shots with a Coast Guard vessel.

She said new evidence suggested the crew of that ship had fired Soviet-made shoulder-fired rockets just before the ship sank.

Coast Guard officials say the weapons are a mainstay of the North Korean arsenal.

Raising the ship for inspection is a crucial step as Japan decides what measures to take against the country of origin, Ogi added.

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Government officials have refused to speculate on the origin of the vessel but several independent analysts believe the ship to have originated in North Korea.

Officials and analysts say the vessel closely resembled two suspected North Korean spy ships detected off the western coast of Japan in March 1999. Those ships, rigged as fishing boats but built to move at high speeds, escaped.

There has been no comment at all from Pyognyang on the matter.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday Hideichi Okada, spokesman for the Japanese prime minister, said that raising the vessel could pose diplomatic challenges because it sank just outside Chinese territorial waters in China's exclusive economic zone.

As such, he said, any lifting operation would require cooperation from Beijing.

The ship was first engaged by Japanese patrol boats around midday on Saturday. They pursued the vessel for six hours after it ignored orders to stop for inspection.

The ship then fled toward China but was surrounded by Japanese gunboats in the East China Sea. It went down during the ensuing gunbattle.

It is unclear what caused the boat to sink, but some witnesses reported seeing a bright flash aboard the vessel leading to speculation that the crew may have deliberately scuttled the ship to avoid capture. Two bodies from its estimated 15 crew members have been recovered. Three Japanese sailors were also slightly injured.