The Fisheries Agency released on Friday a video showing the collision between its patrol boat and a North Korean fishing vessel in Japan's exclusive economic zone off the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture.
After the accident, North Korea claimed that Japan deliberately sank the fishing boat, and demanded the Japanese government pay compensation for the vessel.
The agency believes it was maneuvering its patrol boat properly, judging from the video and other evidence, it said.
The accident occurred in the Yamatotai, a rich fishing ground located about 350 kilometers northwest of the Noto Peninsula, just after 9 a.m. on Oct. 7.
The agency said the Okuni patrol boat started chasing the North Korean boat, which was drying squid on board, on suspicion that it had been poaching.
In the 13-minute video footage, the fishing boat flying a North Korean flag was running side by side with the patrol boat on its right-hand side. About one minute after the agency's vessel sprayed water at the North Korean boat in warning, the fishing boat steered sharply to the left and collided with the patrol boat, making a crashing sound.
In the footage, agency officials can also be heard tensely saying things such as, "It's turning, it's turning," and "It's colliding."
After that, the fishing vessel tilted to the left and sank. The footage ends when the North Korean crew members were rescued by another North Korean ship.
According to the Fisheries Agency, all 60 crew members aboard the fishing boat were safe.
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