Japan's Cabinet approved additional sanctions on North Korea on Tuesday in response to the communist state's multiple missile tests in July, news reports said.
The sanctions, based on a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing weapons-related sanctions on the North, would ban withdrawals of money from Japanese bank accounts and the transfer of financial assets by those suspected of aiding North Korea's weapons program, Japanese news reports said.
The new punitive measures are to be made more specific through consultations between related government agencies after going into effect later on Tuesday, Japan's Kyodo News said.
The sanctions would also target 12 groups and one individual who faced similar financial restrictions from the Untied States, it said.
North Korea test-launched seven missiles on July 5, despite repeated international warnings not to do so. All of the rockets fell harmlessly into the sea, but the U.S. and Japan led the U.N. Security Council push to adopt a resolution condemning the missile tests and launching limited sanctions.
In its separate sanctions against Pyongyang, Japan banned the port call by a North Korean ferry, Mangyongbong-92, to Japan, the only passenger link between the two nations.
In recent weeks, speculation has been rife over whether the U.S. will launch additional sanctions on North Korea, as the North has refused to return to international talks on its nuclear weapons program for nearly one year.
In last week's summit talks, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush reaffirmed their resolve to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table, papering over their differences over how to deal with the Stalinist state.
The Bush administration favors a hard-line approach to resolve the nuclear standoff, while Roh's government has called for a reconciliatory stance on the issue.
In an apparent response to Washington's silent calls for tougher measures, the Australian government reportedly decided to impose financial sanctions on a number of companies and an individual suspected of having links to North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
"This (financial sanctions) supports and complements similar action taken by Japan today and previous actions taken by the United States, and sends a strong message to North Korea," said Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in a statement, according to a report by AFP.
Downer did not identify the companies or the individual targeted by the sanctions, but said they were "connected with involvement in financing North Korea's continuing efforts to develop its nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction programs."
North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear ambition during a fourth round of international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program last September. But the communist state has been staying away from the nuclear talks since a November round, claiming the U.S. financial sanctions are part of Washington's hostile policy to isolate and topple its communist regime.
The talks are also attended by South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Yonhap News)
Japan launches additional sanctions on N. Korea |
