Are corpses on boat washed up in Japan from the DPRK?

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Eight corpses have been found on a boat that washed ashore in Japan, and the fishing vessel is believed to be of DPRK's origin, according to Japanese news reports.

The wooden seven-meter “ghost boat” landed in Oga, Akita prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast facing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Japan Coast Guard confirmed on Monday.

Packets of DPRK's cigarettes and life jackets bearing Korean characters were discovered with the boat, suggesting it came from the DPRK.

Parts of the eight bodies were skeletonized, indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed since the victims’ deaths and making it difficult to figure out their sex.

The incident came several days after police found eight men on the same coastline who claimed to be DPRK's fishermen whose vessel ran into trouble.

Japanese police took the men into custody, though they said they wanted to go back home.

There is no conclusive evidence to prove the two cases are related.

The deputy manager of Rajin port, in DPRK's Rason Special Economic Zone, looks out at small fishing boats, July 22, 2016. /AP Photo‍

Though the facts remain scarce, there has been much speculation about the identities of the corpses.

According to experts, some DPRK's fishermen travel far out to sea in order to satisfy government mandates for bigger catches, but their vessels are so poorly equipped that it is hard for them to survive in difficult conditions.

The find could also be evidence to defectors attempting to flee the DPRK via new routes following a fresh crackdown by the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, on those attempting to escape the isolated nation, US-based news service Fox News reported.

There is also speculation that the eight men might be terrorists.

The case comes at a time of rising tension over DPRK’s nuclear arms and missile programs after US President Donald Trump re-designated the nation a state sponsor of terrorism, allowing the United States to levy further sanctions.

The DPRK tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that it said can reach the whole of the continental US on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, three DPRK's men on a capsized boat in the Sea of Japan were rescued and sent back to the country by the Japan Coast Guard.