Amid heightened tensions with North Korea following its latest nuclear test last Friday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is looking for ways to escalate unilateral sanctions against the hermit state, an LDP source has said.

Among these are an expansion of the re-entry ban on senior members of a pro-Pyongyang residents group that visits North Korea, the source said.

The LDP, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also plans to ask the United States to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the source.