PYONGYANG, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday criticized the Japanese parliament over a new law which threatens sanctions against the DPRK over human rights and the abduction issue.

    "North Korean Sanctions Law is a serious political provocation to the DPRK and a revelation of their extreme hostile policy toward it," said a signed commentary carried by the leading official newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

    The Japanese parliament enacted a bill into law on June 16 requiring the government to impose economic sanctions on the DPRK if it made no progress on the issue of human rights records and the abduction of Japanese citizens. That was the third law in a series of measures to press the DPRK on the abduction issue.

    "The abduction issue had long been settled and we, therefore, do not feel the need to talk about it any more," said the Rodong Sinmun editorial, which was carried by the Korean Central News Agency, adding that "such a row will touch off anti-Japanese sentiment among the Koreans and reinforce their will to react to the offensive with the toughest stand."

    At a 2002 DPRK-Japan summit, the DPRK admitted to kidnapping Megumi Yokota and 12 others during the 1970s and 1980s. Five of the abductees were allowed to return home in 2002, and Pyongyang said the eight others including Yokota had died in the DPRK.

    The DPRK insists that the abduction issue has been resolved completely after it returned what it said were Yokota's ashes, but Japan says the ashes were not hers and has urged Pyongyang to reveal her whereabouts as well as those of other Japanese believed to have been kidnapped. Enditem