Tokyo - The Japanese parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution against North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island, urging the government to consider fresh sanctions against Pyongyang.
“The shelling was an outrageous act of violence,” the resolution said. “It was a provocative act that the international community cannot overlook.”
The resolution said Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government “should consider new sanctions and make more efforts to strengthen ties with countries concerned in order to step up international pressure on North Korea”.
Tokyo has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang and interactions between the two countries have long been tense because of the communist state's nuclear and missile programmes and past kidnappings of Japanese nationals.
Some Japanese ministers have already hinted the government would consider tougher sanctions against Pyongyang in the wake of Tuesday's attack on the border island of Yeonpyeong, which killed four people, including civilians. - Sapa-AFP