File photo: IC

 
A fishing boat belonging to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and a Japanese Fisheries Agency patrol boat reportedly collided in the Sea of Japan on Monday, according to accounts from the Japan Coast Guard (JCG).

As a result of the collision, which occurred at around 9:10 a.m. local time (0010 GMT), the DPRK fishing vessel was left half-submerged with 20 crew members flung overboard and into the sea.

A Japanese government official and the coast guard were reported as saying that nobody on the Japanese patrol boat was harmed in the incident.

The incident occurred around 350 km northwest of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, the JCG said.

The JCG and Fisheries Agency have previously sent patrol ships to the waters in the vicinity in a bid to quash illegal fishing.