TOKYO (Sputnik) — Japan will tighten unilateral sanctions against North Korea, after Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
"The consideration of specifics is underway actively, North Korea will be given a hard and decisive response," Abe said on the issue of unilateral sanctions, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
Following the reports about North Korea’s rocket launch, Abe's office said that Japan, in close cooperation with the international community, would not hesitate to take measures against North Korea.
Later that day, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that Tokyo had begun considering its own sanctions over the incident.
Tokyo imposed several rounds of unilateral sanctions, including a trade embargo, against North Korea over its abduction of Japanese citizens.