Japan extends economic sanctions on N Korea for 6 more months

The government decided in a cabinet meeting Tuesday to extend the economic sanctions Japan imposed on North Korea after Pyongyang's first nuclear test last October, officials said.

The sanctions prohibit North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports, ban imports of all items from North Korea, and block all North Korean people from entering Japan. Japan imposed more limited sanctions after North Korea conducted missile tests last July. These sanctions banned a cargo-passenger ferry link between the two countries and barred North Korean officials from entering Japan.