The Japan Coast Guard said Wednesday it may demand compensation from a man who falsely reported over the weekend that several suspicious people in wet suits had landed on Enoshima Island, Kanagawa Prefecture, leading it to search a North Korean ship.
The coast guard spent more than 10 million yen on the episode, dispatching 17 vessels, launching aircraft 10 times, and mobilizing some 380 personnel. Police plan to send the man's case to prosecutors and charge him with violating the Minor Offense Law.
The 41-year-old man from Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, told police he hatched the story in an attempt to cheer himself up after a recent quarrel with his wife.
The man, whose name has been withheld, phoned the coast guard and told them five or six people wearing what looked like wet suits had emerged from what appeared to be a miniature submarine at around 7 p.m. Sunday and landed on Enoshima.
This led the coast guard Monday to search the North Korean freighter Sonamu, which was docked at Funabashi port in Chiba Prefecture. Nothing out of the ordinary was found aboard the ship, which was first seen anchored off Jogashima Island not far from Enoshima right after the man made the report. While anchored, the ship refused to let the coast guard board her.
The coast guard set up a special office to handle the incident and searched the waters around Enoshima, a tourist spot in Fujisawa, but found nothing suspicious.
The incident followed the sinking in late December of an unidentified but suspected North Korean spy ship in the East China Sea after a brief firefight with Japanese authorities.