Japan bans all trade with North Korea.

From AFP:

Japan on Tuesday banned all remaining trade with North Korea to punish the isolated communist regime for its latest nuclear and missile tests, the government said.

Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet "agreed on a ban on all export goods" to the impoverished state on top of an import freeze imposed after the North's first atomic test in 2006, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.

Tokyo's latest move comes amid worries Pyongyang may soon conduct a third nuclear test after the UN Security Council voted Friday for tougher sanctions in response to the regime's May 25 underground test.

Japan's exports to the North -- mainly machinery and transport equipment such as trains and vehicles, food, electronics and industrial goods -- totalled just 792.6 million yen (8.2 million dollars) last year, the finance ministry says.

Analysts see Japan's new sanctions as largely symbolic because North Korea conducts the bulk of its trade with its large communist neighbour and closest ally China, also its biggest source of aid.