TOKYO, June 14 (UPI) -- Japan will pass a bill this week allowing it to ban North Korean ships from its ports, further pressuring the North to cooperate on bilateral issues.
Some government officials are ready to ban the North Korean ferry Man Gyong Bong-92 to gauge Pyongyang's reaction, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Monday. The government has already strengthened its hand by revising laws to allow Japan to unilaterally impose sanctions on North Korea, including banning trade and cash remittances between the two countries.
Late last month, junior lawmakers from the governing Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the port of Sakai in Tottori Prefecture, where 40 percent of all North Korean ships visiting Japan docked in 2003, to explore the issue.
During that visit, local processors of crabmeat, which is North Korea's main export to Japan, asked the legislators to consider the impact economic sanctions would have on them.
