Radar antenna, submachine gun removed from East China Sea
The Japan Coast Guard on Friday retrieved a radar antenna and a submachine gun from the East China Sea where a suspected North Korean spy ship sank last December, coast guard officials said.
The coast guard said it made the discovery after it searched the site where the vessel sank and found new items such as a support pillar for the radar antenna that was attached to the iron ceiling of the ship’s bridge.
The ship sank about 390 kilometers off the southwestern Japan island of Amami-Oshima after a skirmish with coast guard patrol vessels on Dec. 22 last year. It was salvaged on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the search operation said the radar antenna is believed to have been manufactured in Japan. In 1998, a North Korean submarine that sank in South Korean waters was equipped with a Japan-made radar.
Friday’s search led to the discovery of about 20 items including a submachine gun that has a bigger bore than two automatic rifles found earlier and can shoot for a long period of time, the coast guard said.
Six kinds of weapon have been found on the ship so far, including antiaircraft missile launchers and antitank rocket guns.
If all goes well, the ship will reach Kagoshima Bay in southwestern Japan on Saturday morning, the coast guard said.
Tokyo claims the mystery ship was a North Korean vessel apparently involved in espionage or drug-running. North Korea has denied the allegations.