Japan surveys sunken 'spy ship'

An underwater survey has been carried out of an unidentified ship which sank last year after exchanging gunfire with Japanese coastguard vessels.

The Japanese authorities suspect the vessel was on a spying mission for North Korea, although the authorities in Pyongyang strongly deny the allegation.

Underwater cameras have found a number of bodies on board the vessel and signs of a large explosion.

Unnamed coastguard sources are quoted by one Japanese newspaper, the Mainichi Shimbun, as saying that those on board may have blown up the ship to avoid capture.

The coastguard plans to salvage the ship later this year.

Fifteen people are thought to have died on the vessel, which went down in the East China Sea last December.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service