The Associated Press Nov 19, 2002 : 4:10 pm ET

MOSCOW (AP) -- Gunmen seized a Russian fishing trawler Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, media reports said.

The press service of the Federal Border Guards confirmed a Russian vessel was seized in the Sea of Japan, but would not confirm that it was a trawler or give other details. The press service said Russian border guards were informed of the incident by Japanese and South Korean authorities.

Interfax said the 178-foot trawler with about 20 crew members was seized 460 miles southeast of the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok. The agency quoted an unidentified official at the Transport Ministry's rescue coordination center as saying there was evidence the gunmen came from a Cambodian ship.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on TVS television that a special emergency commission had been formed to deal with the situation.

In South Korea, a spokesman at the headquarters of the South Korean coast guard in the port city of Incheon said he had no information on the reports.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2002