Japan is considering imposing more sanctions on North Korea in response to its announcement that it conducted a nuclear test, and lawmakers are set to vote later on Tuesday on a resolution criticising Pyongyang’s actions.
North Korea said on Monday it had successfully carried out its first nuclear test earlier that day, and Washington has sought harsh United Nations sanctions.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has just returned from a visit to China and South Korea, said quick action was needed if it turned out a test had in fact taken place.
”Should we confirm this, we need to swiftly take our own tough measures against North Korea,” Abe told a parliamentary committee.
Japan imposed sanctions following a flurry of missile tests conducted by North Korea in July, but Cabinet ministers said on Tuesday that further measures were needed.
”We would like to consider expanding additional measures in cooperation with the international community,” Finance Minister Koji Omi told a news conference.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso said, however, that a decision on additional sanctions would have to wait.
”We would like to see proof that such a test took place,” Aso told a separate news conference, adding that Japan was not yet at the point of considering inspecting ships entering or leaving North Korean waters, a measure proposed by the United States.
An official of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Parliament would convene on Tuesday afternoon to vote on a resolution criticising the reported North Korean test.
Financial sanctions imposed last month, in addition to the July sanctions, effectively froze remittances and transfers to North Korea by those suspected of links to the development of weapons of mass destruction.
A leading lawmaker of Japan’s ruling party said on Sunday that fresh sanctions could include halting imports and exports from North Korea, and lawmakers have also said additional financial sanctions could be imposed.
Nippon Steel, the world’s third-biggest steel maker, has halted imports of blast furnace fuel from North Korea, a source close to the matter said.
The source said Nippon Steel had been purchasing about ¥2-billion ($16,79-million) worth of anthracite smokeless coal a year from North Korea, accounting for more than 10% of Japan’s total imports from the reclusive communist state.
Nippon Steel was the only Japanese firm importing the coal from North Korea. A company spokesperson declined to comment.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference on Tuesday that Japan remained in close touch with other countries in efforts to confirm the test and was also analysing domestic data.
Japan’s military deployed several aircraft on Monday to collect air samples for checks on radiation levels, and a government official said Japan had detected no abnormalities at its radiation monitors.
Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki said checks throughout Japan had shown no major change in radiation levels following the reported nuclear test.
Officials and experts have repeatedly said that even if radioactive material had been dispersed by the test, the effect on humans would be minimal. – Reuters