Special to WorldTribune.com

More than a dozen primitive wooden “ghost ships” found drifting in Japanese waters are probably North Korean fishing vessels, officials said.

The Japanese coast guard found four badly decomposed bodies on a vessel discovered on Dec. 6. The coast guard said a total of 25 bodies have been found on the ghost ships. The unclaimed and unnamed bodies have been cremated.

The ships were carried into Japanese waters by Tsushima currents which runs north-eastward along the west coast of Japan.

Analysts said the primitive wooden boats with flat-bottomed designs, and cigarette packs found on the vessels point to North Korea.

Japanese fishermen believe the 25 dead were likely fishing for squid, got caught in storms and died of exposure or thirst.

Fishermen in Fukui prefecture in north-central Japan say one of the ghost ships found in November had primitive gear for catching squid and lacked even a VHF radio. “It’s incredible that it got this far,” said Mitsumasa Sakashita, one of the fishermen.

Youthful dictator Kim Jong-Un is said to have instructed the state-owned seafood industry to increase its haul. North Korean seafood exports, mostly crab and clams, to China tally about $60 million per year, according to the South Korean government.

Japan’s coast guard reported over 400 North Korean squid boats were spotted near its exclusive economic zone last year, up from 110 in 2013.

Some North Korea observers said a power struggle over control of Pyongyang’s fisheries led to the downfall and execution in late 2013 of Kim Jong-Un’s uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.

Kim Yong-Hyun of Dongguk University in Seoul, said Kim Jong-Un’s pressuring of Pyongyang’s fishermen to go farther out to sea is tied to the dictator’s wish to display how well he is running the country ahead of the first large convention of the Workers’ Party since 1980.

  ‘Ghost ships’ off Japan likely from North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, Tsushima current, WorldTribune.com