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© KYODOMany boats likely from N Korea left neglected on Sea of Japan coast
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Yubaru
Yeah, more than likely a committee has to be formed, an investigation started, to find out if the boat actually came from NK and not just abandoned by some Japanese fisherman, and then get everyone's hanko on the application, with a few brown envelopes passed around, before an "ok" is handed down and the money released to the local government.
Not to mention that while it costs 1 Million yen, as reported here, the national government is probably paying 5 times that much per boat, as the other 4 Million is needed to "grease the wheels"
Hiro
Cheap way is to just burn them like a bonfire for fun. Or target practice for the navy then?
semperfi
HiroToday : Cheap way is to just burn them like a bonfire for fun.
.
LOL
That would be too easy for the Japanese who love the complexity of the bureaucratic system.
Ganbare Japan!
I am angry about this, NK rubbish polluting pristine tourist beaches. Terrible for these areas in the middle of the tourist boom. It will upset Tourists to see them. Force NK to pay to clean up or remove the boats.
Wallace Fred
Early morning LOLZ
Samit Basu
Now you can visualize the boat that the ROK destroyer was trying to locate against 1 meter high waves using the MW-08 search radar. A boat like this is literally buried in the waves and is hard to spot visually.
arrestpaul
Bodies reduced to skeletons? How long does it take to drift from N Korea to Japan? Are these boats, and bodies, riddled with bullet holes? Are N Koreans using these floating wrecks as a means to escape to Japan?
ClippetyClop
You haven't been to a beach here recently I take it. Compared to the miles of tetrapods and mounds of trash, these boats are nothing.
papigiulio
Sure it does and in the end it still ends up in the wrong places.
zatoizugoodo
What isn’t left neglected in Japan? It’s not just boats on the beaches that’s for sure.
RealCDN
"Bodies reduced to skeletons?" - they were likely skeletons when they left NK.
kwatt
There are such wooden boats all over beach. why do they remove them somewhere that cost a lot? Just burn every boat on beach there as possible as they can. Dry boat seems to burn. If there is some left after burned, just remove the rest easily.
Garthgoyle
Send the bill to North Korea.
WA4TKG
Burn baby, burn.
”We’ll dance around ‘em like wild ‘En’jins’ “.
browny1
Ganbare Japan!Today 07:43 am JST
I am angry about this, NK rubbish polluting pristine tourist beaches. Terrible for these areas in the middle of the tourist boom. It will upset Tourists to see them. Force NK to pay to clean up or remove the boats.
Interesting points Ganbare. I too am angry about pollution of the coastline here, especially with thrown-away garbage including tons of plastics. Wood will eventually break up and rot - plastic is here for the next epoch or more. Unfortunately most of this plastic is domestically produced - in my region anyway. I doubt many tourists will be put off by the sight of such boats when compared to the digusting "gomi" that clutters beaches everyday.
And I can see some of the boats being of service to the local tourist industries as curiousities with tales to tell. The plight of long suffering NK citizens under a harsh regime, the desperation of individuals, the security porosity of the Japanese coastline, the human element of international affairs etc etc would make an interesting mini-museum stop.
And re NK pay for the clean up is as nonsensical as charging the Japanese govt for all of the post Tsunami debris washed up over the Pacific. Both have tragic backgrounds.
And re the difficulty to dismantle / remove these little wrecks - and I'm assuming they're all little - well I just watched 3 men over the course of a few days knock down and remove a small old house. In comparison, the task at hand of an old wooden boat being gotten rid of, is negligible.
macv
show them omotenashi welcome them
kurisupisu
What a mountain out of a molehill.....
Joy Gebhard
Is this news worthy or the usual Japan news making ? The news maker I presume does not have proven facts that these boats are from North Korea. The wooden boat could be from anywhere. Trying to finger point just about anything to North Korea may no longer feasible. Public is getting to be better educated.
Insane Wayne
The Japanese should follow the North Korean example and build their ships from renewable materials. Give it to the local sento. They wont have any problem burning it.
Wakarimasen
Japan's own refugee problem but goes unreported and unnoticed.
BeerDeliveryGuy
If they were to go through the entire inspection, indentification, quarantine, dismantling, separation of burnable and recyclable material; then yes I can see it costing up to 1mill per boat.
The fishermen should just assemble a volunteer crew to bring some chainsaws, gas, matches, beer and meat.
NAN DESU KA
A lighter is about 100JPY, burn them right there on the spot let the ocean carry the ashes away simple!
BeerDeliveryGuy
Hiring a hazmat crew, demolition company and tug boat would still cost a fair amount.
Like I said, matches, gas, beer, steaks.
Chico3
What I see is that these North Koreans made it to safety to a more civilized place. I just feel sorry for those who either didn't make it or who have relatives who have to pay for their escape. I just hope one day that the barbaric society in NK will come to an end.
Slickdrifter
Dismantle the boats then recycle the wood. Then find a use for it. OSB apllications and OSB systems like rafters, plywood, floor joists, load bearing beams are made from similar woods used in these boats for sure. There is always a use from wood. Right the cost. The Japanese bureaucracy.
Japan. This is how starts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-BhmQ_WKRw
BeerDeliveryGuy
The last time NK fishermen made it “safely” to Japan, they ransacked a fisheries office, trashed the living quarters, threw a TV and moped bike into the ocean, and caused ¥20mil in damages to a lighthouse.
Then they demanded to be sent home.
I’m not against genuine escapees and refugees from NK, but these boats are not refugee boats.
A NK refugee would also stick out like a time traveller if they arrived anywhere in Japan, especially these inaka fishing villages where everybody knows everyone and their dog.
WA4TKG
Yup, you got that right BeerGuy.
kazetsukai
Interestingly everyone treats these incidents as just another foolish incident on both sides.
With N Korea in dire straits and S Korea playing the facade, for all we know they are "infiltrators" in to Japan. If N Korea does not have enough stealth boats to enter Japan, but open and direct approach always works.
On the other hand it may be an "indicator" of how N Korea is "faring" with the embargo and Japan's participation with the US. And it may be signal from the N K for "help" or "stop - or else". They can easily penetrate Japan's security just as those little boats.
Funny it reminds one of US's Southern border problem.
Brian Wheway
@ klusdorth, don't forget about the brown paper bags that will be involved with the "Official organisation" to remove said boat. if that was to happen in the UK I'll bet there will be a few people with chainsaws cutting these boats up for free fire wood for there log burners in there homes.
presto345
Of course. The concrete blocks are much more attractive than the hand built wooden craft that have a story to tell.
Toasted Heretic
This is as nonsensical as stating that Japan should be forced to pay to clean up debris after various tsunamis or because their plastics are washing up on foreign shores.
englisc aspyrgend
I agree, a beach bonfire is the best solution.
Brian Wheway, dead right, well seasoned wood burns beautifully, and if you have an open fire the salty wood is lovely.
Scrote
Quite right. When I go to a Japanese beach I like to sit amongst the piles of Japanese rubbish. I certainly don't want this experience spoiled by foreign detritus.
serendipitous1
1 million to remove a boat? I'll do it for 800,000!
bullfighter
Japan has very strong protection for private property. That's why there is a convoluted process for disposing of abandoned bicycles, empty houses, and the like. After Fukushima it took months to dispose of abandoned automobiles because of a legally mandated requirement to contact owners before disposal even though in all probability the owners were dead.
Further, if one of the boats turned out to be South Korean, there might well be a legal claim made for damages if the boat was just burned.
albaleo
That was my first thought. What would tourists rather see on the beach, a wooden shipwreck or some perfectly manufactured tetrapods?
BeerDeliveryGuy
@bullfighter
That is true, as I mentioned earlier. The “proper” method of disposing of these boats would involve hiring hazmat capable demolition crews, but only after the police, health inspectors, etc, do their processes. 1mill per boat might actually be a conservative estimate, considering the man hours involved.