Shii on the sinking of a South Korean patrol boat

Japanese Communist Part Chair Shii Kazuo on May 21 issued the following statement on the sinking of a South Korean warship:

The South Korean Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group on May 20 released a report on the sinking of a South Korean Navy patrol boat in March. The report, showing several pieces of evidence, concludes that the patrol boat “was sunk as the result of an external underwater explosion caused by a torpedo made in North Korea.” The Japanese Communist Party condemns the attack as an unforgivable and outrageous military action.

The report says, “[T]he torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation.” North Korea said the report is based on a “fabrication” and denied its involvement in the incident, but it also said that it would send its own investigation team to the South to check the evidence. If North Korea denies involvement, it should offer facts of counterevidence to disprove the evidence which South Korea produced.

The JCP requests that South Korea, North Korea and other countries concerned to never lead to the escalation and vicious cycle of military tension but to work to settle politically and diplomatically this issue which has a serious bearing on peace in northeast Asia.

- Akahata, May 22, 2010