TOKYO -- Japan on Tuesday said two ships that violated its territorial waters last week were North Korean spy ships but stopped short of punitive steps against Pyongyang and vowed its policy of diplomatic engagement was unchanged.
"Our government has judged that those two ships are North Korean spy ships," top government spokesman Hiromu Nonaka told a news conference, adding that Tokyo would lodge a protest with Pyongyang.But Nonaka said Japan would not change its basic policy on North Korea and had no plans to impose punitive measures against the famine-hit Stalinist state.
In an apparent drastic shift in its North Korean policy, Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi earlier this month pledged Tokyo's full support for South Korea's strategy of engagement with the reclusive state.
During a visit to South Korea, Obuchi said Japan was ready to improve its ties with North Korea if Pyongyang allayed Tokyo's concerns, such as worries about the North's missile program.