Japan Weighs Plans to Deal With North Korean Evacuees in Case of Crisis

Japan Weighs Plans to Deal With North Korean Evacuees in Case of Crisis
The Japanese coast guard participate in an exercise of the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum on June 8, 2006 in Busan, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
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TOKYO—Japan is studying plans to cope with an influx of perhaps tens of thousands of North Korean evacuees if a military or other crisis breaks out on the peninsula, including ways to weed out spies and terrorists, a domestic newspaper said.

The Japan Coast Guard would escort boats fleeing North Korea to designated ports, where police would screen them by checking their identity and possible criminal records and expel those deemed a threat, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Thursday.