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Japan bans North Korean imports
2006-10-11
Saying the country was "in gravest danger," Japan ordered a total ban on North Korean imports late Wednesday and declared that ships from the impoverished nation were prohibited from entering Japanese ports as punishment for its apparent nuclear test. North Korean nationals are also prohibited from entering Japan, with limited exceptions, the Cabinet Office said in a statement released after an emergency security meeting. Twenty-four North Korea-registered trade ships were moored at Japanese ports as of Wednesday afternoon, according to public broadcaster NHK. Local traders were already refusing to unload shipments to protest the alleged test, and the boats were expected to be ordered out, NHK said. "Japan is in gravest danger, if we consider that North Korea has advanced both its missile and nuclear capabilities," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters following the meeting. "We cannot tolerate North Korea's actions if we are to protect Japanese lives and property," he said. "These measures were taken to protect the peace." Abe added the government will swiftly implement the measures, which were to be formally approved by the Cabinet on Friday. A total ban on imports and ships would be a big blow for North Korea, whose produce like clams and mushroom earns precious foreign currency on the Japanese market. Ferries also serve as a major conduit of communication between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations. Tokyo has already halted food aid and imposed limited financial sanctions against Pyongyang after it test-fired seven missiles into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula in July, including one capable of reaching the United States. Japan has reason to react sternly. It lies well within the range of North Korean missiles, though Pyongyang isn't believed capable yet of mounting one with a nuclear weapon. Tokyo has also been exasperated by Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s, which the North only admitted to several years ago. Some within the region have raised concerns that the North's brinkmanship could give Japan a pretext to go nuclear next, triggering countermoves by suspicious Asian neighbors. Abe, however, has insisted Tokyo will stick to its postwar no-nuclear weapons policy. The North on Wednesday lashed out at the prospect of further economic sanctions. "The enemy schemes to destroy us through economic lockout ... but that is merely a foolish illusion," said an editorial published by the state-run Rodong Sinmun, according to Radio Press. Earlier, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, demanded that Pyongyang return immediately and unconditionally to the six-party nuclear talks, and honor promises to freeze its missile program and strengthen regional peace under a 2002 bilateral pact. The North has boycotted the six-way talks on its nuclear program, which also involve the United States, China, South Korea and Russia, due to anger over separate financial sanctions imposed by Washington. "It's vital that North Korea return to negotiations," Shiozaki said. "I urge North Korea to ... put our agreements in place one by one." Japanese military aircraft, meanwhile, continued to monitor for radioactivity in the atmosphere, but reported no abnormal readings Wednesday. Officials have said any fallout from Monday's blast, believed to have been equivalent to hundreds of tons of TNT, could hit Japan this week. Determining conclusively whether the North did set off a nuclear device could take days, if not weeks, according to defense officials. ___ Associated Press writer Kozo Mizoguchi contributed to this report. Muzi.com News
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