PYONGYANG, North Korea, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A senior North Korean diplomat says his country will take countermeasures against new sanctions imposed by Japan in response to his country's nuclear test.
Speaking to Japan's Kyodo news agency, Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of diplomatic normalization talks with Japan, said, "We will take strong countermeasures. The specific contents will become clear if you keep watching. We never speak empty words."
He also said his country is trying to assess what plans Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has about relations with it.
Japan's additional economic sanctions against North Korea will include bans on all imports and on North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports.
Earlier, in response to North Korea's missile tests in July, Japan banned remittances to 15 entities suspected of links to North Korean weapons of mass destruction programs.
On the resumption of the stalled talks to normalize relations between Japan and North Korea, Song told Kyodo he felt it could be inappropriate to do so with the sanctions in place.
