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Japan, Australia slap fresh sanctions on N.Korea
2006-09-19
Japan and Australia have slapped financial sanctions on North Korea in the first fresh measures against the communist state since the UN Security Council demanded action over its July missile tests. The two US allies blacklisted companies and an individual for alleged links to weapons programs in North Korea, which says it has a nuclear bomb and may be preparing to test one. In Japan, the sanctions were announced by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a sworn hawk on North Korea who is all but certain to win a vote Wednesday to replace Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "The government wants to use this occasion to call again on North Korea to respect the UN Security Council resolution, to stop missile-related activities, confirm its moratorium on missile launches and to return unconditionally to the six-way talks," Abe told a news conference. North Korea -- which fired a missile over Japan in 1998 -- has boycotted the six-nation talks on ending its nuclear drive since November to protest separate US financial sanctions on a Pyongyang-linked bank. The Security Council on July 15 called for nations to impose sanctions on North Korea's missile program in response to its test-firing of seven missiles in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) 10 days earlier. The resolution, backed by Japan and the United States, was watered down to target only missiles, not the North Korean economy as a whole, to meet concerns by veto-wielding Russia and China, the North's main ally. In response to the missile tests, Japan has already banned a ferry which was the key link for North Koreans living in Japan, along with visits by North Korean diplomats and charter flights. Under the latest sanctions, financial institutions will be required to report suspicious behavior and stop transactions involving 15 companies and one individual. But Abe, contradicting earlier news reports, said it would not affect the thousands of ordinary North Koreans who work in Asia's largest economy. "The bodies and individuals listed are related to weapons of mass destruction and missile programs," Abe said. "People who are not related to those programs are not included." A ruling party study in 2005 estimated that North Koreans in Japan send back 1.2 billion dollars a year, providing crucial economic support for the cash-strapped country. Australia, which has frequently served as an intermediary on North Korea but recalled its envoy over the missile tests, also imposed sanctions on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the move was "consistent with our strong international stand against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." "This 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," Downer said in a statement. Unlike Australia, Japan has no diplomatic relations with North Korea. Koizumi flew to Pyongyang twice on high-stakes diplomatic bids but failed at his goal of normalizing ties. Abe, 51, has broken with Koizumi on North Korean policy. He rose to public prominence criticizing North Korea for its abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies. In an interview aired late Monday with Nippon Television, Abe said he would consider setting a cabinet-level minister to handle the emotionally charged row. Pyongyang has returned five of the victims, but Japan insists that more are alive and being kept under wraps. Abe angered neighboring countries in July by suggesting a theoretical pre-emptive attack on North Korea in the face of an immediate threat -- comments until recently unthinkable for a top leader of officially pacifist Japan.
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