31.   Japanese relations with North Korea have deteriorated following the December gunbattle between the Japanese Coast Guard and a suspected North Korean spy ship.

32.   Japanese officials say suspected spy ships enter North Korea.

33.   Justice Department lawyers blocked investigation into suspected spy, official testifies.

34.   Last month, Japanese naval destroyers fired on a pair of suspected spy ships, which Japan later claimed were North Korean.

35.   Last week, the body of a suspected North Korean spy was found washed ashore on an east coast beach.

36.   North Korea has reportedly denied it was responsible for sending two suspected spy ships into Japanese waters earlier this week, instead blaming rival South Korea for the incursion.

37.   North Korea said Saturday it had nothing to do with the incursion of two suspected spy ships in Japanese waters earlier this week.

38.   Norota will tour a Maritime Self-Defense Force base near the western Japanese city of Kyoto, from which vessels were dispatched to pursue the pair of suspected spy ships.

39.   Relations between Tokyo and North Korea have also deteriorated since a suspected North Korean spy boat infiltrated Japanese waters in December.

40.   Relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang, North Korea, have also deteriorated since a suspected North Korean spy boat infiltrated Japanese waters in December.