North Korea: A Walker in an Era of Silence (1990s-early 2000s)

North Korea: A Walker in an Era of Silence (1990s-early 2000s)
The 1990s and early 2000s were a period of heightened tension in Northeast Asia as the post-Cold War order shook loose in Japan. Sporadic infiltrations of North Korean agents continued, and maritime confrontations became increasingly violent, including a 1997 incident involving a suspicious vessel off the Noto Peninsula, a 1998 incident involving the pursuit of a suspicious vessel, and a 2001 shootout with a North Korean agent ship in the southwestern waters of Kyushu. The discovery of a sunken spy ship containing a suicide bomber and a map of Japan with heavy weapons sent a strong shockwave through the country about the reality of North Korean intelligence activities.
In Japan, reports of deteriorating public security continued to circulate, as fears of foreign nationals and organized crime increased, and the growing number of juvenile crimes, such as the 1997 Kobe child murder case, shook the society.
Under these circumstances, most of the information handled by the Public Security Bureau was in the gray area, neither black nor white. The movement of North Korean agents, the purpose of suspicious vessels, and their backgrounds were fragmented, and the accuracy of the information was shaky, and a mistake could have led directly to diplomatic problems. The people on the ground were more aware of the risks of careless statements, and their silence was a sign of professional defense and prudence.
This silence was not a rejection, but a kind of curtain that quietly descended on the boundary between the state and the individual, and was the only way to show the depths of information.