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Japan threatens sanctions against Pyongyang

TOKYO: Japan will impose economic sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang conducts a nuclear test, a senior leader of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Sunday.

Shinzo Abe, acting secretary general of the party, said a nuclear North Korea is the biggest threat to Japan and it would be “unthinkable” for Tokyo to do nothing in case of Pyongyang’s nuclear testing.

“If their possession of nuclear weapons is fully confirmed and they conduct a nuclear test, we must bring the issue to the UN Security Council and call for economic sanctions,” Abe told Asai TV.

Abe, known for his hardline stance on North Korea, met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this month to discuss the North’s nuclear issues as well as other topics. “We imposed economic sanctions when they fired the Taepodong missile,” Abe said, referring to the long-range North Korean missile which flew over Japan into the Pacific Ocean in August 1998.

“If they go ahead with a nuclear test, it is unthinkable for us not to impose economic sanctions,” he said. North Korea said this week it had unloaded 8,000 spent fuel rods in a step to building more nuclear weapons amid reports it was preparing to conduct a nuclear test.

In February, North Korea said it had nuclear weapons to defend itself and has sought security assurances from the United States. Despite rounds of talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, little progress has been made in efforts to end Pyongyang’s nuclear standoff since it erupted in October 2002. afp

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