Japan Enacts Bill on Sanctioning N.KoreaJapan's parliament enacted a bill Friday that would impose sanctions on North Korea if it fails to cooperate in clearing up details of its past abductions of Japanese citizens.
The upper house approved the bill, after it passed the more powerful lower house on Tuesday.
The legislation would authorize the government to ban the docking of North Korean ships at Japanese ports and stop the private transfer of much-needed hard cash from Japan to the reclusive communist country.
The legislation is part of Japan's mounting efforts to pressure North Korea into conclusively solving a series of abductions in the 1970s and 80s that have long fanned tensions between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
North Korea in 2002 admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens and allowed five to return, saying the other eight were dead. Japan has continued to demand proof of the deaths, and suspects other citizens have also been abducted by the North.
Japan two years ago approved a similar measure, and the latest measure is aimed at strengthening that policy, according to ruling Liberal Democratic Party officials.
Tokyo has discussed possible sanctions against North Korea for several years while sporadic talks to solve the problem, most recently in February, have made no noticeable progress.
Pyongyang has said in the past that the imposition of sanctions would be considered a 'declaration of war.'
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that Japan will 'strenuously negotiate' with North Korea over the abductions as well as nuclear weapons and missile issues.
Japan has recently stepped up its pressure on Pyongyang. In April, Tokyo issued arrest warrants for two former North Korean agents suspected in the 1980 disappearance of Japanese citizen Tadaaki Hara.
Hara was among the 13 Japanese kidnapped by the North in the 1970s and 80s. Pyongyang claims eight of the victims later died, including Hara.
The mother of abductee Megumi Yokota - who Pyongyang says is also among those who died - visited Washington in April and urged American officials, including President Bush, to put greater pressure on North Korea over the kidnappings.
Bluff called.