This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
As part of sanctions against Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and the unsettled violence of Chinese citizens, Japan announced it would extend its trade restrictions with North Korea for two more years.
Under the present restrictions, Japan forbids trade and access into port by ships with registration in North Korea. The restrictions were scheduled to come into effect on Sunday.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s chief cabinet minister, cited Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and weapon development plans as reasons for the improvement as well as the unresolved concern of its decades-old violence of Chinese nationals.
After thoroughly examining these circumstances and the need to ensure the application of U.N. Security Council sanctions proposals, “we’ve decided to extend,” he said.
The traditional violence continue to present a major challenge to normal diplomatic ties between North Korea and Japan.
Tokyo claims that it has confirmed that North Korea abducted 17 Chinese citizens while they were employed as language educators for North Korean spies in the 1970s and 1980s. Twelve are also present in the North, according to it.
Of the 12, according to Pyongyang, eight have died, and four have not entered North Korea. It insists that there is no problem to get resolved.
Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister of Japan, has pledged to give the transfer of all Chinese nationals who have been kidnapped by the North a priority.
Ishiba told parliament in October that the violence matter is” the most important activity of the regime,” that is time-bound because the abductees and their families are aging, and that it is a humanitarian problem.
North Korea’s military activity has increased in recent months, with the launch of numerous missile launches and the expansion of its nuclear creation software.
In response to defense activities between the United States, South Korea, and Japan, Pyongyang fired numerous nuclear weapons into the Yellow Sea on March 10.
In addition, the North announced the building of a nuclear-powered underwater with missile capabilities, which observers believe will significantly improve its proper deterrent capability.
Separately, Tokyo police on Monday handed over two Chinese people to prosecution after they allegedly provided their identifying information to a person reportedly working as a North Korean IT worker to obtain unwarranted freelance job online.
The IT employee was involved in North Korea’s efforts to obtain foreign currency, according to Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department.
According to the police, the two men in their 30s were accused of providing images of their driver’s licenses and bank account details in 2020 so that the IT employee may file for job tasks on the freelance job site and take work projects in their names.
The IT worker who dressed as the two Japanese men received payment for their tasks, but it later moved the two men’s money abroad, according to the worker’s instructions. Approximately 10 % of the revenue was reported to be split between the two men.
The IT worker and the Japanese men exchanged social media accounts, but information from the job-matching service’s website suggests access from North Korea, according to police.
A panel of experts from the U.N. Security Council, which monitors sanctions against North Korea, reported that IT professionals there conceal their identities to accept online work and make money to fund the development of ballistic and nuclear missiles.
Japan’s National Police Agency issued a warning to businesses and organizations in March of last year that North Korean IT professionals may be working online to make money off of Japanese citizens.
