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North Korea faces new sanctions

Japan and Australia slapped financial sanctions yesterday on North Korea in the first fresh measures against the communist state since the UN Security Council demanded action over its July missile tests.

The two US allies blacklisted companies and an individual for alleged links to weapons programs in North Korea, which says it has a nuclear bomb and may be preparing to test one.

In Japan, the sanctions were announced by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a sworn hawk on North Korea who is all but certain to replace Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"The government wants to use this occasion to call again on North Korea to respect the UN Security Council resolution, to stop missile-related activities, confirm its moratorium on missile launches and to return unconditionally to the six-way talks," Abe said during a news conference.

North Korea -- which fired a missile over Japan in 1998 -- has boycotted the six-nation talks on ending its nuclear drive since last November to protest separate US financial sanctions on a Pyongyang-linked bank.

The Security Council on July 15 called for nations to impose sanctions on North Korea's missile program in response to its test-firing of seven missiles in the Sea of Japan 10 days earlier.

The resolution, backed by Japan and the US, was watered down to target only missiles, not the North Korean economy as a whole, to meet concerns by Russia and China, the North's main ally.

In response to the missile tests, Japan has already banned a ferry which was the key link for North Koreans living in Japan, along with visits by North Korean diplomats and charter flights.

Under the latest sanctions, financial institutions will be required to report suspicious behavior and stop transactions involving 15 companies and one individual.

But Abe, contradicting earlier news reports, said it would not affect the thousands of North Koreans who work in Japan.

"The bodies and individuals listed are related to weapons of mass destruction and missile programs," Abe said. "People who are not related to those programs are not included."

A ruling party study last year estimated that North Koreans in Japan send back US$1.2 billion dollars a year, providing crucial economic support for the country.

Australia, which has frequently served as an intermediary on North Korea but recalled its envoy over the missile tests, also imposed sanctions yesterday.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the move was "consistent with our strong international stand against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
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