S Korea, Japan Target Pyongyang with More Restrictive Measures

Local Editor

South Korea and Japan had expanded their restrictive measures against North Korea in the wake of the new UN Security Council resolution imposing additional sanctions on Pyongyang.

According to a statement from the South Korean government, cited by The Asahi Shimbun on Friday, the blacklisted North Korean officials include members of the Politburo Presidium and the Korean People's Army.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday, as cited by the Japanese daily, that Japan was renewing sanctions against North Korea.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the draft resolution condemning "in the strongest terms" the nuclear test conducted by North Korea on September 9. The resolution prohibited UN members from buying a number of North Korean exports, including coal and several metals.

The North Korean embassy to Moscow warned in a press release on Thursday that the new sanctions imposed on North Korea will lead to a "more powerful response and self-defense measures" and will escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.

On September 5, Pyongyang launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. Several days later it conducted a successful test of a nuclear warhead, which is believed to be the fifth and largest blast since Pyongyang began pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

On October 14, North Korea carried out a failed test of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile near the northwestern city of Kusong.

The incidents have sparked concern in neighboring Japan, as North Korean missiles reached Japanese waters after flying over 600 miles from the launch site during early September's ballistic test.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team