Tokyo has extended unilateral sanctions against North Korea due to the lack of progress in negotiations on the nuclear missile program and kidnapped Japanese citizens, TASS reports.

This decision was made at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The sanctions, which were in effect until April 13, will last until 2023.

Japan first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 due to the Korean nuclear test.

The Japanese authorities demand that Pyongyang resolve the issue with the Japanese citizens abducted by the North Korean special services: in 2002, North Korea for the first time admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens and allowed only five of them to return home. The rest were declared dead, and the remains were sent to their relatives, the authenticity of which could not be confirmed.