Japan to impose additional sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang's projectile launch

Japan has decided to impose additional sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang's repeated attempts to launch projectiles using ballistic missile technology. North Korea tried to launch a military reconnaissance satellite on August 24. It also test-fired what appeared to be ballistic missiles on Wednesday.

At a Cabinet meeting on Friday, Japan's government decided to add three organizations and four individuals to its list of sanctions. The added targets include hacker group Andariel. Japan will now be



freezing the assets of 140 organizations and 128 individuals. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu told reporters after the meeting that the government will strongly call on North Korea to take concrete actions to settle issues including the country's abductions of Japanese nationals and its nuclear and missile programmes. 

He said the government will seek denuclearization of the North by closely coordinating with the United States and South Korea.