Japan reportedly took steps yesterday to punish North Korea for its apparent nuclear test, moving to impose a total ban on imports from the impoverished nation and prohibit its ships from entering Japanese ports.
The sanctions, which also expand restrictions on North Korean nationals entering Japan, were to be announced following an emergency security meeting headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe late yesterday, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Cabinet Office spokesman Hiroshi Suzuki confirmed a security meeting was scheduled, but refused to discuss its agenda. He said sanctions, if approved, could take effect immediately.
Tokyo has already halted food aid and imposed limited financial sanctions against North Korea after it test-fired seven missiles into waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula in July.
But a total ban on imports and ships would be a serious blow for North Korea, whose produce like clams and mushrooms earns precious foreign currency on the Japanese market. Ferries also serve as a major conduit of communication between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations.
Earlier yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki urged the North to return immediately and unconditionally to the six-party nuclear talks, and honor promises to freeze its missile program and strengthen regional peace under a 2002 bilateral pact.
The North has boycotted the six-way talks on its nuclear program, which also involve the US, China, South Korea and Russia, due to anger over separate financial sanctions imposed by Washington.
"It's vital that North Korea return to negotiations," Shiozaki said. "I urge North Korea to ... put our agreements in place one by one."
Shiozaki was also skeptical about reports in local media that the North may have detonated a second nuclear device yesterday morning. Both Shiozaki and Abe said they had not seen any data to confirm the reports.
Meanwhile, Japanese military aircraft continued to monitor for radioactivity in the atmosphere, but reported no abnormal readings. Officials have said any fallout from Monday's blast, believed to have been equivalent to hundreds of tonnes of TNT, could hit Japan this week.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
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STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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