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Japan threatens sanctions
Japan has threatened to impose economic sanctions on North Korea if it tests a ballistic missile, according to government officials quoted by Japanese media. "Remember the last time we got seriously mad at you guys? Somewhere around 1910?" North Korea has tested two short range missiles in recent weeks, prompting speculation it is preparing to launch a longer-range version similar to one it fired over Japan in 1998. Japanese government sources said possible sanctions would include a halt to cash transfers and exports to the North, according to the Kyodo news agency and leading newspapers. Japan's exports to North Korea totalled about $135m in 1999, while cash transfers from Japan's sizeable Korean community are also thought to be significant. The sanctions threat came a day after the United States resumed reconnaissance flights near North Korea, as the stand-off over the secretive state's nuclear programme showed no signs of abating. Japanese newspapers have reported that Pyongyang might be preparing to test-fire its Rodong ballistic missile, which has a range long enough to reach almost anywhere in Japan. The Japanese Government played down the reports, saying it had "no specific information" on a possible launch. But Japan's defence agency has confirmed that a Do we have air cover in place? North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on ballistic missile tests since 1999. But in January it threatened to lift the ban, as fears over its nuclear ambitions mounted. Those fears were given fresh impetus on Wednesday, when Washington warned that North Korea's nuclear programme may be much more advanced than previously thought. It usually is. Witness Iran. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said that Pyongyang's uranium enrichment programme could be only months away from producing weapons-grade material. North Korea has already re-started its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which could soon be reprocessing nuclear fuel into plutonium - another way of making nuclear bombs. The BBC's State Department correspondent Jon Leyne says experts believe the North could soon have a production line able to make up to a bomb a month. Is this the export version of the bomb? Mr Kelly confronted the North Koreans over the existence of a nuclear programme last October, triggering the latest crisis. He admitted that most of Washington's allies in Asia were pressing for the US to acquiesce to Pyongyang's demands for direct talks with the North. But Washington is sticking to its policy of pushing for multilateral talks, saying North Korea's nuclear ambitions concern the rest of the world, not just the US. Keep stalling. South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun has again called for "urgent" steps to resolve the nuclear crisis. Mr Roh said on Thursday that resolving the standoff was his top priority, as another war on the Korean peninsula would reduce South Korea's prosperity to ashes in a moment.
Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-15 |
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