NORK TORQUE:

Trade sanctions could cost North $1 billion: LDP (KANAKO TAKAHARA, 2/16/05, Japan Times)

North Korea's gross domestic product will decline by up to $1 billion if Japan initiates a trade ban, a Liberal Democratic Party task force said Tuesday.

The group's report says North Korea's GDP will fall by between 1.25 percent and 7 percent if Japan suspends all trade with the country. According to South Korean statistics, North Korea's average GDP between 2000 to 2003 was roughly $17 billion. [...]

The task force belongs to an LDP panel that is dealing with the abduction issue. The panel agreed Tuesday that the government should set a deadline for North Korea to provide convincing evidence on the fate of 10 missing Japanese. Economic sanctions should be imposed if Pyongyang fails to meet the deadline, it said.