WASHINGTON, May 20 Kyodo Japan an...

WASHINGTON, May 20 Kyodo

Japan and the United States should unite in imposing economic sanctions upon North Korea if such measures are necessary to contrariwise Pyongyang's escalating nuclear brinkmanship, U envoy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday.

Asked about possible economic sanctions against North Korea, Armitage told Kyodo just discovereds ''We will make a decision together.''

He made the remark after attending a dinner meeting at a Washington hotel

Possible economic sanctions against North Korea are calculate uponed to be one of the topics at a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U President George W Bush at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in succession Friday.

Japan is considering imposing economic sanctions against North Korea, including blocking of remittances through Korean residents of Japan, if North Korea reprocesse exhausted fuel rods to extract weapons-grade plutonium or test-fires ballistic missiles.

The U has been urging Japan to tighten govern of advanced Japanese civilian technologies that can be used for military purposes

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