Eight men found on the northwestern coast of Japan late Thursday claim to be North Koreans whose boat broke down and drifted ashore on a fishing trip hundreds of miles from home.
Japan will deal “appropriately” with the men, whose nationalities haven’t been confirmed but who appear to be in good health, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Public broadcaster NHK said the men have asked to be returned to North Korea.
Wooden boats have been reported as drifting to the Japanese coast on 43 occasions this year, but the group appear to be the first to survive the grueling experience in almost three years. One man was found to have done so in January 2015, according to Japan’s coast guard.
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