Japan to Target N. Korea Money Transfers, Aso Says

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said the government will take steps to control North Korea's "transfer of financial resources" to help prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Aso made the comments today in a statement welcoming a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that North Korea halt its missile program. North Korea on July 5 test-fired seven missiles, ignoring calls from China and other countries to refrain from such launches.

The council yesterday voted 15-to-0 to adopt a resolution demanding that North Korea suspend its missile program and barring the communist nation from acquiring or selling missile technology.

The U.S. and Japan gained the support of China and Russia today by dropping provisions in earlier drafts of the measure that threatened North Korea with economic penalties or military force for failing to comply. China had threatened to veto any resolution that contained such threats.

Japan's decision to target the transfer of money from Japan to North Korea may have no effect, said Kim Myong Chol, who runs the Center for Korean-American Peace in Saitama prefecture, on Tokyo's northern border. The center's Web site describes Kim as the ``unofficial spokesman for North Korea.''

``Very few people transfer money from North Korea, so the sanctions would have no impact on North Korea,'' Kim said in a telephone interview.

Ferry Banned

Japan earlier this month banned a North Korean ferry from entering its ports for six months. North Korea's Mangyongbong 92 ferry, which runs between Wonsan and Niigata, Japan, and is the main communications link between the countries, was stopped on July 5 from entering its port of call in northern Japan.

Some Japanese money is still flowing to North Korea, said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, and an expert on Korea, said in an interview today.

``Transfer of financial resources specifically refers to credit card payments by Japanese tourists who visited North Korea,'' Shigemura said in an interview today, responding to Aso's comments.

``Recently more than a few Japanese have been visiting North Korea and they can use a credit card in places like Pyongyang's hotels,'' Shigemura said. ``The Japanese government aims to suspend that kind of credit card payment by Japanese tourists to North Korea. This will be effective,'' in reducing the flow of money to North Korea, he said.

Regional Reactions

South Korea's government today said it welcomed the UN resolution. China's foreign ministry said it wants the accord to help restart stalled six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program.

North Korea's ambassador to the UN, Pak Gil Yon, told the Security Council his government rejected the resolution and would continue with missile launches as a deterrent to U.S. and Japanese aggression and to maintain a balance of power on the Korean peninsula.

The July 5 missile tests by North Korea included the firing of a long-range Taepodong-2 that may be able to reach Alaska. The U.S. is concerned North Korea will eventually be able to mount nuclear warheads on its missiles.

The resolution is the first to be adopted by the Security Council on North Korea since 1993, when it asked the Pyongyang government to reconsider its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.

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