US move against N Korea puts Japan in quandary

Tokyo

THE US decision last Friday to impose new sanctions on North Korea over its alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment has come at a delicate time for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is trying to coax Pyongyang into accelerating progress on finding Japanese abductees.

Normally Japan follows US policy on issues such as levying sanctions almost as a reflex action. But with a special inquiry in progress in North Korea into the fate of suspected Japanese abductees who disappeared over a period of several decades, Tokyo's hands are tied, analysts suggest.