The Japanese Cabinet has approved a bill to extend existing sanctions against North Korea.

As a result, North Korean ships will be blocked from entering Japanese ports and the import of North Korean products will be banned for another year.

Transfers of funds over ten million yen to North Korea will have to be reported to the government. The current minimum is 30 million yen.

Visitors to North Korea will also be banned from carrying in more than 300-thousand yen. The current maximum is one million yen.

But Tokyo did decide to withhold a total export embargo or a ban on visits to the North by members of the pro-North Korean group Chongryeon in Japan.

The sanctions have been extended four times since they were first imposed in 2006.