N Korea to seize Japanese cars

2007-02-19 09:47

Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has ordered the seizure of all Japanese-made cars in the communist country after he spotted a broken-down model blocking a road, a press report said on Monday.

The order came on January 1 when Kim visited the embalmed body of the North's founding leader Kim Il-Sung, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, in a sign of his growing discontent with Japan's hardline stance on North Korea.

It quoted unnamed sources as saying Kim's sudden order might be connected with Japan's push for sanctions against North Korea following its first-ever nuclear test last year.

"After he paid tribute to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace on January 1, he saw a Japanese car that wasn't working blocking the road and gave a national defence commission edict to seize Japanese cars," a source was quoted as saying.

The commission is the North's highest decision-making body led by Kim.

Most cars in North Korea are Japanese

It remains to be seen whether North Korean authorities will be able to implement the order fully, because most of the cars operating in the country are Japanese, Yonhap said.

Japan has intensified pressure on North Korea after the secretive nation tested missiles in July and nuclear weapons in October.

Japan's sanctions included banning a North Korean ferry, which served as a major trade conduit between the two countries, from entering Japanese waters.

It has also adopted a series of measures against a pro-North Korean residents' association in response to its suspected role in the North's weapons programmes.

- AFP