The Hakodate District Court on Tuesday handed down a suspended sentence to the captain of a North Korean fishing boat for stealing goods on a remote Hokkaido island last year.
Kang Myong Hak, 45, was given a 30-month prison term, suspended for four years, for stealing items worth ¥5.63 million on the small island off the town of Matsumae.
Kang and other crew members, believed to have been fishing for squid in the Sea of Japan, were found aboard a wooden boat drifting in waters near the island in late November.