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Thursday July 6, 4:20 PMJapan launches studies on substantial sanctions on N. Korea(Kyodo) _ Japan launched studies Thursday on substantial economic sanctions it might take against North Korea following the North's firing of seven missiles into the Sea of Japan the previous day, officials said.The government's task force on North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals held a meeting and agreed to promote studies at each government organization on what sanctions can be taken under current laws. Government sources said the team might propose imposing a ban on remittances from Japan to North Korea and on trade with the North under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law. The law was revised in 2004 to pave the way for Japan to take sanctions unilaterally without a United Nations resolution or international arrangements. A ban on remittances is seen to be a major blow to North Korea because such remittances by pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan are a major source of foreign currency income for North Korea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, speaking at the task force's meeting, condemned North Korea for challenging international calls for restraint on missile launches. Abe, who serves as the top government spokesman and also Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's chief of staff, accused the North of having failed so far to take a sincere response to Japan's demands for a complete settlement of the abduction issue. "Japan must continue to strongly demand North Korea allow all the victims of abductions to repatriate to the homeland," he said. The task force comprises senior officials from various government ministries and agencies. Its formal members are those from the Cabinet Secretariat, the National Police Agency, the Justice Ministry, the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the Foreign Ministry, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Suzuki chairs the team. At Thursday's meeting, an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which supervises local government administration, briefed participants about toughening taxation on properties held by Chongryon, the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, the officials said. Team leader Suzuki told the session there are six members in Japan of North Korea's legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly. Suzuki, a House of Councillors member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, made that point in reference to a set of sanctions announced by the Japanese government Wednesday. The package imposed a half-year ban on port calls to Japan by the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92 and also on reentry to Japan by North Korean officials living in Japan. The officials said the task force agreed to take action to prevent harassment against Korean school students in Japan as many female students at the schools had been bullied whenever tensions mounted between Japan and North Korea in the past. Meanwhile, an LDP panel on North Korea also held a meeting Thursday and agreed to write a bill on financial sanctions against North Korea at an early date. The bill would be targeted only at North Korea to allow Japan to take tougher sanctions than those under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, LDP lawmakers said. The bill would impose a ban on financial institutions in Japan from making transactions with overseas bodies suspected of being involved in North Korea's alleged money-laundering maneuverings. The team, led by House of Councillors member Ichita Yamamoto, plans to submit the bill to the next session of the Diet expected to be convened in the fall. |
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