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Japan may impose more sanctions against N. Korea-PM Abe

RIA Novosti

10/10/2006 17:26 TOKYO, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Japan may introduce further sanctions against North Korea without waiting for confirmation that Pyongyang has indeed conducted a nuclear test, the Japanese prime minister said Tuesday.

The reclusive Communist state announced Monday that it successfully detonated a nuclear device underground in defiance of a UN Security Council statement urging it to give up nuclear test plans and return to disarmament talks, and earlier warnings from the international community.

Shinzo Abe said: "Japan does not aim to topple the North Korean regime," but it is "resolved to pressure Pyongyang to revise its policy."

The Japanese government has identified an array of additional sanctions against North Korea, including a complete ban on the import of all goods made in North Korea, denial of entry visas to all North Korean citizens, closing Japanese ports to all North Korean vessels, and the expulsion of all Korean vessels from Japanese territorial waters.

Japan also plans to expand the scope of financial sanctions.

Japanese imports from North Korea in 2005 was worth about $100 million.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Tuesday Japan is also considering military sanctions, but declined to itemize them.

But at a separate news conference, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Japan will not impose unilateral sanctions against the Pyongyang regime until there is conclusive proof that North Korea has indeed conducted a nuclear test.

Japan, the only country to have been subjected to nuclear strikes, has strongly advocated non-proliferation and arms control since WWII. The country ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1976.

Japan's lower house of parliament adopted a statement earlier Tuesday protesting North Korea's nuclear test.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed introducing in the statement a call on the world community to impose sanctions against North Korea. The proposal was blocked, however, by the opposition Democratic Party.

Japan's upper house of parliament is planning to adopt a similar statement Wednesday.

North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, and in February 2005 announced it had acquired nuclear weapons. Some experts, however, questioned the claim.

North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States have been engaged in talks on the nuclear issue since 2003, discussing aid and security guarantees for the secretive regime in exchange for a renunciation of North Korea's nuclear program.

However, talks stalled last November over Pyongyang's demands that the U.S. lift sanctions imposed on it for its alleged involvement in counterfeiting and other illegal activities