Japan sanctions businessman for violating trade ban on North Korea
The Japanese government has imposed sanctions on a businessman convicted of violating the country’s trade ban on North Korea.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (‘METI’) said that Matsumoto Susumu had violated its June 2009 export and trade ban on North Korea: ‘On August 18th, 2011, Matsumoto Susumu exported 410 tons of frozen cod, worth 20,520,000 yen (about USD 189,000), to North Korea without the approval of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.’ He is banned from ‘conducting export or export-related activities’ from 10 April 10 to 9 December 2020, it added.
Japan has prohibited all exports destined for North Korea since 18 June 2009 under its Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. The stiff embargo, aimed at pushing Pyongyang to denuclearise and resolve its past abductions of Japanese nationals, imposes a total ban on bilateral exports and imports and forbids the entry into Japan of North Korean-registered ships, as well as vessels that have stopped at a North Korean port.
