Japan cabinet approves North Korea sanctions

TOKYO, Oct 13: Japan's cabinet formally approved tighter sanctions against North Korea today, including a six-month ban on all imports from the impoverished communist state, in response to its declared nuclear test this week.

North Korea had threatened to retaliate if Japan went ahead with the measures, decided by its top security panel on Wednesday but largely symbolic given the lack of strong economic ties between the two neighbours.

''The government decided to block all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports from October 14 to April 13 next year and also to ban all imports from North Korea for the same period,'' Economics Minister Hiroko Ota told a news conference.

The steps, adding to sanctions Tokyo had already imposed following North Korea's ballistic missile tests in July, also include prohibiting the entry of North Korean nationals except those living in Japan.

''These actions by North Korea are a grave threat to the peace and security of our country and international society and can never be permitted,'' Finance Minister Koji Omi said.

Japan's Kyodo news agency yesterday quoted Song Il-ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of diplomatic normalisation talks with Japan, as saying Pyongyang would take ''strong countermeasures'' against if Japan went ahead with sanctions.

''We will take strong countermeasures. The specific contents will become clear if you keep watching. We never speak empty words,'' Kyodo quoted Song as saying in a report from Pyongyang.

Commenting on that threat, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a separate news conference: ''It is the government's responsibility to ensure the peace and safety of the country and its people, and we will firmly do what is needed for that.'' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that Tokyo will consider further steps depending on North Korea's future behaviour and developments in the international community -- a reference to a possible United Nations Security Council resolution urging punitive action against Pyongyang.

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT?

Japan's total trade with North Korea amounted to about 0 million dollars in 2005, about half the figure in 2002, and trade is dwindling further this year, according to Finance Ministry data. Coal and matsutake mushrooms top the list of Japan's imports from North Korea, while cars, trucks and buses account for a large portion of Japan's exports to the isolated country.

North Korean ships, many loaded with used refrigerators and bicycles, were preparing to leave Japanese ports today. There were 22 North Korean ships in four ports, Kyodo news agency said.

Japan, which together with the United States wants tough UN sanctions on Pyongyang, is considering under what circumstances it could provide logistical support for US forces inspecting North Korean cargo ships if a UN resolution includes that step.

UN Security Council members may vote as early as Saturday on a US-drafted sanctions resolution.

Japan's military activities are restrained by the country's pacifist constitution and its forces can only cooperate with US forces in an ''emergency situation in surrounding areas'', such as the Korean peninsula.

But the definition of an ''emergency situation'' is vague, and Japan's navy cannot not use force to board vessels.

Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma told a parliamentary panel on Thursday that an ''emergency situation'' did not yet exist but said one might develop in the future.

The governing Liberal Democratic Party has also begun to conside enacting a new law that would make it easier for Japan to cooperate in North Korean ship inspections, and perhaps allow Japan to assist non-US forces.

REUTERS