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Japan closes ports to North Korea

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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- All Japanese ports will be closed to North Korean vessels, according to new sanctions approved Friday by the Japanese Cabinet in response to the North's claimed nuclear test this week.

The sanctions also call for a Japanese ban on imports and exports from North Korea, and a six-month ban on travel to Japan by North Korean government officials, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

North Korea's claim to have successfully conducted a nuclear test, which has yet to be confirmed, set off alarm bells in Japan, which lies across the Sea of Japan from North Korea -- within range of its ballistic missiles.

Japan has joined the United States in calling for the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on North Korea that would be binding on all U.N. member states, in a bid to pressure North Korea to return to negotiations and give up its nuclear ambitions.

However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his country -- the only nation ever to suffer destruction from nuclear weapons -- has no plans to develop its own nuclear capacity to counter North Korea's.

Tokyo already had limited sanctions in place against North Korea, imposed after the North test-fired seven missiles into waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula in July.

U.S. President George W. Bush has warned the North Koreans against taking an aggressive actions against its neighbors, saying the United States would honor its commitments to back Japan and South Korea militarily in the event of an attack.

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