TOKYO, Dec. 22 — A six-hour chase ended in a firefight and the sinking Saturday of an unidentified boat that might have been spying for North Korea, Japanese officials said. Two Japanese coast guard personnel were slightly wounded and an estimated 15 crewmen from the fishing boat were dumped in rough seas when it went down about 240 miles off the southwestern Japanese island of Amami Oshima.Survivors clung to life preservers in the cold water for nearly two hours as rescue efforts were hampered by the rough conditions and concerns that the castaways might resist.
A coast guard spokeswoman later said there were no signs of survivors, but that patrol boats were continuing the search.
Authorities initially said Japanese gunfire had sunk the fishing boat. But Shinzo Abe, deputy Cabinet secretary to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, later speculated the boat’s crew might have scuttled the ...
