Japan to impose additional sanctions on N. Korea

The Japanese government decided on Tuesday to impose additional sanctions on North Korea by freezing the assets of five more organisations over their involvement in the country's nuclear and missile development programs.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, Japan's (Kyodo) news agency reported.The five organizations include North Korea's Ministry of Rocket Industry and four trading firms, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that "Japan urges North Korea to take concrete actions toward resolving various issues" including its nuclear and missile development programs.The action by Japan's government came after South Korea imposed on Friday unilateral sanctions on the North for the first time in five years following its missile launch earlier in the day, blacklisting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 organizations involved in its nuclear and missile development programs.