TOKYO: The Japanese coast guard was searching for crew members who fell into the sea from a wooden North Korean fishing boat that capsized off Japan’s northwestern coast, officials said Wednesday.
The coast guard said it dispatched four patrol vessels and two aircraft after receiving information of the capsizing earlier Wednesday.
Officials said the incident occurred near an area called Yamatotai, a rich fishing ground that’s also crowded with North Korean poachers.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that a Japanese fisheries inspection ship received a distress call from another North Korean boat. He said the Japanese fisheries and coast guard patrol boats are jointly searching for the missing.
No further details were available, including the number of crew or why the boat capsized. It was not immediately known if the boat was inside Japan’s 200-mile (322-kilometer) exclusive economic zone, where the country has the right to all resources.
Last week, a North Korean boat in the area sank after a collision with a Japanese fisheries boat warning it to leave the Japanese exclusive economic zone. About 60 crew members of the North Korean steel boat were safely rescued by another boat from the North.
Japanese Fishing Agency and coast guard officials said they did not arrest the North Koreans because their boat had sunk and could not obtain proof they were fishing illegaly. The area is too deep to retrieve the sunken ship, officials said.
The government plans to release a video around the time of the collision.
Japan has stepped up sea patrols after noticing more North Korean boats as Pyongyang tries to boost fish harvests.
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Japan searching for North Korean boat crew who fell into sea
Japan searching for North Korean boat crew who fell into sea
- Officials say the boat capsized in a rich fishing ground frequented by North Korean poachers
- Another North Korean boat sank in a recent incident after colliding with a Japanese fishing vessel
UN rights chief appeals for $400 million as crises mount and funding shrinks
- The UN office is appealing for $100 million less than last year, after a significant scale back of its work in some areas
- Volker Turk’s office undertook less than half the number of human rights monitoring missions compared to 2024
GENEVA: UN human rights chief Volker Turk appealed for $400 million on Thursday to address mounting human rights needs in countries such as Sudan and Myanmar, after donor funding cuts drastically reduced the work of his office and left it in “survival mode.”
The UN office is appealing for $100 million less than last year, after a significant scale back of its work in some areas due to a fall in contributions from countries including the US and Europe.
“We are currently in survival mode, delivering under strain,” Turk told delegates in a speech in Geneva, urging countries to step up support.
In the last year, Turk’s office raised alarm about human rights violations in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Myanmar, among others.
However, due to slashes in funding, Turk’s office undertook less than half the number of human rights monitoring missions compared to 2024, and reduced its presence in 17 countries, he said. Last year it received $90 million less in funding than it needed, which resulted in 300 job cuts, directly impacting the office’s work, Turk said in December.
“We cannot afford a human rights system in crisis,” he stated.
Turk listed examples of the impacts of cuts, noting the Myanmar program was cut by more than 60 percent in the last year, limiting its ability to gather evidence.
A UN probe into possible war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also struggling to become fully operational due to limited funding, while work to prevent gender-based violence and protect the rights of LGBTIQ+ people globally has been cut up to 75 percent, the office said.
“This means more hate speech and attacks, and fewer laws to stop them,” Turk stated.
The UN human rights office is responsible for investigating rights violations. Its work contributes to UN Security Council deliberations and is widely used by international courts, according to the office.
The UN office is appealing for $100 million less than last year, after a significant scale back of its work in some areas due to a fall in contributions from countries including the US and Europe.
“We are currently in survival mode, delivering under strain,” Turk told delegates in a speech in Geneva, urging countries to step up support.
In the last year, Turk’s office raised alarm about human rights violations in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Myanmar, among others.
However, due to slashes in funding, Turk’s office undertook less than half the number of human rights monitoring missions compared to 2024, and reduced its presence in 17 countries, he said. Last year it received $90 million less in funding than it needed, which resulted in 300 job cuts, directly impacting the office’s work, Turk said in December.
“We cannot afford a human rights system in crisis,” he stated.
Turk listed examples of the impacts of cuts, noting the Myanmar program was cut by more than 60 percent in the last year, limiting its ability to gather evidence.
A UN probe into possible war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also struggling to become fully operational due to limited funding, while work to prevent gender-based violence and protect the rights of LGBTIQ+ people globally has been cut up to 75 percent, the office said.
“This means more hate speech and attacks, and fewer laws to stop them,” Turk stated.
The UN human rights office is responsible for investigating rights violations. Its work contributes to UN Security Council deliberations and is widely used by international courts, according to the office.
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