Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says North Korea was not found to have committed any illegal action in regard to a collision earlier this month between a North Korean fishing boat and a Japanese patrol ship in the East Sea. 

According to Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday, Abe revealed the Japanese government's stance on the matter during a meeting of the upper parliamentary chamber on Tuesday.

In response to criticism from the opposition bloc that Tokyo is handling the matter too leniently, Abe argued that the North Korean boat was not confirmed to be engaged in illegal fishing, adding the collision took place in international waters. 

When asked about alleged similarities between this latest case and 2010 collision between a Japanese patrol ship and a Chinese fishing boat near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Abe denied such claims, noting the latter occurred in Japanese territory. 

According to Japan's Coast Guard, the crash involving the North Korean vessel occurred early last week in waters some 350 kilometers northwest of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Around 60 North Korean crew members were rescued in the incident.