Japan joins US in imposing new sanctions on North Korea
Japan will freeze the assets of five organisations and nine individuals linked to North Korea, including two Chinese entities, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday, outlining new sanctions against the isolated state.
Japan's announcement came just hours after the US Senate also voted for new sanctions on North Korea, which followed US media reports this week that intelligence officials had assessed that Pyongyang would be able to field a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by next year, earlier than previously thought.
The US sanctions also include measures aimed at Chinese financial institutions, a senior US official said on Tuesday.
China's foreign ministry denounced Japan's decision as unacceptable and "wrong."
"We are resolutely opposed to any country implementing any unilateral sanctions outside the UN Security Council framework, especially those targeting Chinese enterprises and individuals," ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily press briefing.
"If Japan insists on doing this it will create major political obstacles for cooperation between China and Japan on the Korean Peninsula issue," he added.
