The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito submitted a bill Tuesday to the Diet that would allow the government to bar North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports.

While the bill does not specify any country, its target is the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92, the only such vessel plying between Japan and North Korea that carries people, goods and hard currency, lawmakers said.

The move comes after the Diet revised the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law in February to allow Japan to impose unilateral economic sanctions on North Korea.