[ti:South Korea, Japan Join United Nations in Punishing North Korea] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.20]South Korea and Japan are adding to recent international punishment [00:05.96]against North Korea for its nuclear testing programs. [00:11.32]Japanese and South Korean officials announced the sanctions Friday. [00:19.44]They are in response to North Korea's threat [00:22.68]to strike back against new United Nations sanctions announced earlier. [00:29.60]The United Nations announced new sanctions against North Korea on Wednesday. [00:37.12]The punishments came in response to North Korea's [00:41.56]test of a nuclear device on September 9. [00:45.84]China, North Korea's main trading partner, [00:50.20]and Russia agreed to the U.N. action. [00:55.16]North Korea's vice foreign minister Han Song Ryol [00:59.40]spoke to foreign diplomats in the nation's capital, Pyongyang. [01:05.24]He said the new U.N. sanctions are "an abuse of power" [01:10.48]and violate his country's "right to self-defense," [01:14.40]according to the Associated Press. [01:18.12]Earlier, North Korea warned it will respond to the UN sanctions. [01:23.96]It did not say what the response would be. [01:28.84]The sanctions announced Friday by Japan and Korea are mostly symbolic. [01:35.92]Trade between the two nations and North Korea [01:40.16]is largely non-existent because of sanctions already in place. [01:46.68]South Korea's new sanctions ban North Korea [01:51.24]from engaging in financial dealings [01:53.96]with top aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. [01:58.92]Japanese officials said Friday they will bar ships [02:03.76]that have traveled to North Korea from using Japanese ports. [02:09.60]Japan said it will also freeze holdings of groups and individuals [02:15.40]connected to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. [02:20.04]On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council [02:24.64]approved new sanctions without any opposition. [02:28.80]The sanctions largely target North Korea's coal exports. [02:34.00]Coal is the country's largest source of income. [02:39.12]United States State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the new sanctions [02:45.56]will cut North Korea's coal exports by more than 60 percent. [02:50.88]"None of these sanctions are directed [02:54.08]and nor do we seek to punish the people of North Korea [02:58.00]who indeed are long-suffering under the current regime," Toner said. [03:04.60]He added that the sanctions target North Korea's ruling class [03:09.80]who he said are responsible for North Korea's bad behavior. [03:15.12]I'm Jonathan Evans.