Thread: Breaking News!!!!

Originally posted by Supreme Acolyte
[b]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/3998107.stm

please oh please dont let it be something serious

The news has been updated

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"...A submarine of unknown nationality was found in Japanese waters around the Okinawa prefecture's Sakishima island chain," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference on Wednesday.

"We are following it to determine what action it will take from now on," he added, quoted by AFP news agency.

Abductions

The BBC's David Bamford says it is unclear what lies behind this reported sighting.

In December 2001, a suspected North Korean spy ship sank off Japan after a shoot-out with Japan's coast guard.

In the 1970s, the North Koreans used submarines to approach the shoreline undetected and abduct Japanese nationals, our correspondent notes.

Some have been repatriated, but talks are currently underway in North Korea to discuss the Japanese still unaccounted for, he adds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/3998107.stm

What a tripped out mystery... good looking out Supreme Acolyte. Stay cool, be well.

-Lord Saber

I'm not going to freak out about this quite yet.
I think it's probably American...it's kind of a given that different countries send subs where they're not "supposed" to be...
I read a book several years ago about this phenomenon....WW3 nearly started over a mishap like this when an American sub thought a Russian sub torpedoed it...turned out to be a huge accident of some sort...very mysterious to this day...
Anyone remember that incident?

It's been updated yet again

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Mystery sub sparks Japan alert

Japan's defence chief called for a peaceful resolution
Japan's navy went on alert on Wednesday after an unidentified submarine was spotted inside the country's waters.
Surveillance aircraft detected the submarine near the southern island of Okinawa, and it left soon afterwards.

Officials said the government was trying to establish the vessel's country of origin, although Japanese media said it was possibly Chinese.

The last time Japan ordered such a high alert was in 1999, when suspected North Korean ships entered its waters.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the incident "regrettable".

"It's certainly not a good thing that a submarine of unknown national origin enters our territorial waters," he said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the submarine was spotted by a reconnaissance plane near the Sakishima island chain off Okinawa.


He said the submarine had now left Japan's waters, but that it was being followed by a reconnaissance plane and a destroyer in the hope it would surface and show its flag.

Japan's defence chief Yoshinori Ono issued the maritime alert, a very rare event in Japan, which is bound a post-World War II constitution which restricts its forces to self-defence.

"We want to resolve this issue peacefully," he said.

Competition

Japanese officials refused to speculate on the submarine's nationality. But Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted defence officials as saying it was a Chinese nuclear-powered sub.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, which are likely to become increasingly competitive in their hunt for natural resources to power their economies.

The two sides held inconclusive talks last month on gas exploration projects in the East China Sea.

China has also reportedly been angered by a Japanese defence ministry paper which speculated on reasons China might attack. It cited disputes over natural resources and territory, as well as a wider conflict involving Taiwan.

The other possible source of the submarine is North Korea.

In December 2001, a suspected North Korean spy ship sank off Japan after a shoot-out with Japan's coast guard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3998107.stm

The prime suspects it seems are either China or North Korea... I only hope that this turns out to be nothing much...

Its gotta be China.. they are really agitating down there right now. North Korea doesnt have a quiet enough sub to have gotten that far...

man.. and then at some point next week they will complain about japanese militarism.. what crap.

Originally posted by Supreme Acolyte
[b]It's been updated yet again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3998107.stm

The prime suspects it seems are either China or North Korea... I only hope that this turns out to be nothing much...

I hope it's nothing much, last thing we need is a nuke war going on over there. Be well.

-Lord Saber

Well..its a nuke sub..and its heading towards China..so..well..its Chinese. North Korea doesnt have any nuke subs..