The Battle of Amami-Ōshima, known in Japan as the Spy Ship Incident in the Southwest Sea of Kyūshū (九州南西海域工作船事件, kyūshū-nansei-kaiiki-kōsakusen-jiken), was a six-hour naval confrontation between Japan and North Korea. It took place outside Japanese territorial waters, near the Japanese island of Amami Ōshima, in the East China Sea on 22 December 2001.
The encounter ended in the sinking of the North Korean vessel and the loss of its fifteen crew, which had survived the initial sinking but were left to drown. The Japanese authorities later announced the vessel to have been a spy craft. Though the encounter took place outside Japanese territorial waters, the vessels were within the exclusive economic zone, an area extending 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from Japanese land, within which Japan can claim exclusive rights to fishing and mineral resources.
Background
An unidentified ship was spotted in Japanese waters on 21 December 2001. The armed trawler was detected by a communications station in Kikaijima, Kagoshima, which was under control of the Japanese Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
In 1999, another North Korean vessel encountered by the Japanese Coast Guard was claimed by Japan to have been a spy craft, though North Korea denied it.
Battle
Early the following morning, the ship was chased by four Japanese Coast Guard vessels, who ordered it to halt, and fired 25 warning shots upon the ship when those orders were ignored. A six-hour firefight ensued, in which over 1,000 machine gun rounds were fired by both sides; the North Korean crew were said to have wielded shoulder-held rocket launchers.
The North Korean trawler was meanwhile hit by a number of 20 mm (0.79 in) rounds. Several explosions not directly related to Japanese attacks rocked the ship before it was sunk. According to The Guardian, "fifteen survivors were seen clinging to a buoy in heavy seas, but the Japanese ships were ordered to ignore them because of fears that they would use force to resist capture". Two bodies were recovered, thirteen more persons were declared missing and presumed dead several days later. According to the then-navigational officer on board JCGS Inasa, the ship positioned itself upwind of the sinking suspicious ship and dropped lifebuoys, but no survivors were recovered.
The Special Boarding Unit was mobilized to board the ship, but did not do so as they had to wait for official orders from the Japanese Defense Agency. The ship sank before such orders arrived.
Aftermath
In 2003 the trawler was raised by the Japanese to confirm its origin and intentions. Inspection of the hull determined it was of North Korean origin and most likely an infiltration and spy vessel. It was revealed that the vessel was camouflaged as a Chinese or Japanese fishing boat and that it could reach a speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph), far faster than any commercial trawler. The ship also contained a hidden double-hatch located in the stern to be used as an exit door for speedboats.
Once the inspections were completed, the hull was displayed at the Japanese Coast Guard Museum Yokohama in Yokohama, where the trawler became a popular tourist attraction. The Nippon Foundation proposed to the JCG to keep the damaged hull to educate the public instead of scrapping it.
Among the items found in the trawler include anti-aircraft guns, a B-10 recoilless rifle, an SA-16 MANPAD, RPG-7s, a PKM machine gun and Type 88 assault rifles.