Japan to toughen sanctions on North Korea

Japan is pushing for a "strong" statement on the North Korean rocket launch at a summit of Asian leaders this weekend. China said on Wednesday it did not want to discuss North Korea's rocket launch at the meeting.Japan is pushing for a "strong" statement on the North Korean rocket launch at a summit of Asian leaders this weekend, a diplomatic source said Friday.The diplomat, who asked not to be named, told AFP that Japan had proposed a text of the statement to Thailand, which is hosting this year's summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with its allies.South Korea supported the Japanese initiative but the North Korean embassy in Bangkok signalled its opposition to any statement on the April 5 rocket launch, the source said."We have to see how China will react," said the diplomat, noting however that Beijing had defended North Korea's right to peaceful use of space and refused to condemn its ally.China has also said that the United Nations should not overreact and that the most pressing concern was to restart stalled nuclear disarmament talks with the communist North."It's up to Thailand now to include a statement (on North Korea)," said the source, who is involved in preparatory meetings for the summit.