Japan is considering additional sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang's refusal to reinstate an earlier moratorium on missile testing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday.
"Japan is set to impose various sanctions on North Korea," Aso said, reiterating the government's threat to take new financial measures against the North, in addition to those it imposed after Pyongyang test-launched seven ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan earlier this month.
Aso made the remarks following a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with foreign ministers from nine other Asian and Pacific Rim countries gathered there to discuss security in Northeast Asia.
North Korea, whose missile and nuclear arms programs have been a source of international tension, refused to attend the meeting.