(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Japan decided on Tuesday to extend sanctions on North Korea for two years beyond the April 13 expiration due to Pyongyang's delay in reporting results of investigation into Japanese citizens abducted by its agents, a top government spokesman said.
The decision came at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. "We strongly urge North Korea to swiftly conduct the investigation into the abductions and report to us," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.
"We will make the utmost effort and stick to the principles of "dialogue and pressure" and "action by action" with North Korea toward the goal of bringing back all the abductees," Suga said.
He added that the sanctions are the most effective way in realizing the return of all abductees.
Japan unilaterally imposed the sanctions in October 2006 following North Korea's first nuclear test and test-launch of ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan the same year and has extended them several times before. Tokyo bans all trade with North Korea and port calls by North Korean ships except for humanitarian reasons.
It also bans chartered flights between the two countries. Japan partially lifted sanctions last July after Pyongyang set up the Special Investigation Committee to reinvestigate the fate of Japanese abductees, including restrictions on travel between the two countries, an obligation to report on remittance to North Korea. But tangible progress has yet to be made.
The abduction issue remains a major impediment to normalizing ties between the two countries. Tokyo has been calling for Pyongyang to take positive actions against the abductions of Japanese nationals and the nuclear issue.
In 2002, North Korea admitted that it abducted 13 Japanese citizens from the Japanese coast to train its spies in the 1970s and 80s. Pyongyang returned five victims and their families, but insisted that the other eight were dead. Japan has demanded proof of their deaths and believes 17 people were kidnapped.
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