Japan said today it has decided to impose additional sanctions on North Korea by freezing the assets of five more organizations over their involvement in the country's nuclear and missile development programs.
According to KYODO NEWS, the new measures were approved at a Cabinet meeting following North Korea's repeated test-firings of ballistic missiles since late September including the Oct. 4 launch of a ballistic missile that flew over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.
The five organizations include North Korea's Ministry of Rocket Industry and four trading firms, the Foreign Ministry said.
"North Korea is continuing a series of provocative acts with high frequency, such as firing ballistic missiles 23 times this year," Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference, calling North Korea's actions "violent" and "totally unacceptable."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a separate news conference that Pyongyang's provocations are "serious and imminent threats" to Japan's security and such "reckless actions" threatening international peace and stability are "absolutely intolerable."
"Japan urges North Korea to take concrete actions toward resolving various issues" including its nuclear and missile development programs as well as its past abductions of Japanese nationals, the top government spokesman said.
