Japan looks into more sanctions against N Korea

TOKYO, July 18 (Reuters) Japan has begun work on possible financial sanctions against North Korea over its missile tests, but said a decision on implementation would be taken in concert with other countries and depend on Pyongyang's behaviour.

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki today said that government officials were looking into ways to impose restrictions on financial assets and fund flows to North Korea.

''The purpose is to get North Korea to abandon its development of ballistic missiles. We need to work in the international arena and I believe restrictions on the transferral of funds will be important and effective,'' Tanigaki told a news conference.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso said separately that any action would depend on North Korea's future behaviour.

A 2004 law allows Japan to limit fund remittances to North Korea, mostly from pro-Pyongyang Korean residents of Japan, a source of badly needed foreign currency for the North.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday for a resolution demanding North Korea halt its ballistic missile programme and requiring nations to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring dangerous weapons.

Japan has reacted strongly to North Korea's barrage of missiles, saying Pyongyang's arsenal of hundreds of missiles that can reach all of Japan poses a threat to its national security.

Many Japanese, outraged by the kidnapping of Japanese citizens decades ago by Pyongyang's agents to help train spies, favour tough measures.

Analysts said, though, that any steps to curb the fund flow from Japan would be symbolic.

''In terms of the amount of money, it would not have a serious impact on North Korea's economy,'' said Noriyuki Suzuki, director of the Tokyo-based Radiopress agency, which monitors North Korean media.

The amount of remittances from Japan to North Korea was 280 million yen (2.40 million dollars) in the business year that ended in March, up from 107 million yen the year before, according to the Finance Ministry.

In addition to the remittances, a total of 2.76 billion yen was hand-carried directly by individuals to North Korea, the ministry data showed, but Suzuki said most of the money was for relatives living in the North and did not end up in state coffers.

Japan has already imposed a number of measures against North Korea following its multiple missile firings on July 5, including a six-month ban on the entry of a passenger ferry, the only direct passenger link between the two countries and the main route for hand-carried hard currency to reach North Korea.

REUTERS SB VA BST1139