came across this recent documentary about the ghost ships washing up on the west coast of Japan and the reason these are increasing.
the conclusion is basically that the fishing industry of North Korea is a good way to earn revenue for the state.
even though it's illegal due to sanctions, the fish can still be sold under the table so to speak. it's a good deal for other countries because they expect to get fish and squid for less money. it's a buyers market in favor for the likes of China, etc.
the fishing industry in North Korea has become privatized although officially it's state run but the owners of the fishing companies and fishing boats are under pressure from the regime to fullful quotas.
as a result the boats have go out further to get a decent catch. this means encroaching on Japanese fishing waters.
such long trips on unseaworthy boats and inexperienced fishermen is resulting in more shipwrecks and more deaths
the documentary includes interviews with Jiro Ishimaru of aisapress. his news organization has informants who live in north Korea and feed his organization real life on the ground information and Andrei Lenkov who knows alot about north Korea, has lived there, visited multiple times and teaches Koren history.
enjoy the mini documentary.
