Japanese Lower house passes DPRK sanctions bill

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 29, 2004

Japanese Lower house passes DPRK sanctions bill

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday which would enable Japan to unilaterally impose economic sanctions on the DPRK, paving the way for its enactment next week.

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The House of Representatives of Japan passed a bill Thursday which would enable Japan to unilaterally impose economic sanctions on the DPRK, paving the way for its enactment next week.

The measure to revise the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law comes amid the public's growing frustrations with the DPRK's nuclear weapons program and the stalemate over a reunion of abduction victims now in Japan with their family members left behind in the North.

The bill was jointly drafted by lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner the New Komeito party, and the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

It was approved by the members of those three parties and the Social Democratic Party, which has longstanding ties with the DPRK.

The bill will be sent to the House of Councillors, which is expected to approve it on Feb. 6.

While Japanese economic sanctions are typically imposed with joint agreement with other countries or upon U.N. resolutions, the bill would allow Japan to impose sanctions on the North unilaterally -- even though the bill does not specify the country -- if Japan determines that the country in question poses a threat to Japan's peace and security.

It will allow the Japanese government to unilaterally ban cash remittances -- a main source of hard currency for the DPRK -- restrict trade, freeze assets in Japan and take other measures deemed necessary.

The government is keeping a close eye on Pyongyang's reaction toward the bill as such a move may harden the the DPRK's stance over the entangled diplomatic issues further.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated earlier that he is not considering imposing sanctions for the time being, saying, ''It is good to have various cards (to deal with the DPRK). When we have no choice but to use them, we will carefully judge the situation.''

The law would require the government to obtain the Diet's approval in 20 days after the government decides to impose sanctions.

In recent weeks, some LDP lawmakers have been calling for a sanctions law targeted at the DPRK, DPJ legislators also rallied behind this type of legislation during the general election campaign in November.

The moves comes at a time when the Japanese public has become increasingly critical of the Koizumi government for being ''soft'' on the DPRK, especially because the abduction issue has been deadlocked for more than a year.

the DPRK's nuclear weapons program is also making many Japanese uneasy due partly to stalled six-party talks on the matter involving China, Japan, the DPRK and South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Source: Agencies

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