The ruling coalition and the main opposition party agreed Friday to push legislation through the Diet early next month that will enable Japan to impose economic sanctions on North Korea on its own.

Participants said the agreement was reached at a working-level meeting between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, and the Democratic Party of Japan.

Drawn up by LDP lawmakers, the revision to the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law will be used as leverage to pressure North Korea into resolving its nuclear weapons threat and the abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

The economic sanctions include a freeze in remittances and import and export restrictions. The revised law would allow Japan to impose the sanctions without a United Nations resolution or bilateral agreement with another country, both of which are required under the current law.

Under the revised legislation, economic sanctions can be imposed following Cabinet approval when measures are deemed necessary to maintain Japan's security interests.

During Friday's meeting, the DPJ demanded that economic sanctions be given ex-post facto approval by the Diet and the reasons for sanctions be made public.

The ruling coalition agreed on the need for the Diet approval, but expressed concern over informing the public. It said that allowing people to know the reasons for such action might put the government and lawmakers at a disadvantage if interested parties file a lawsuit over economic sanctions.

The ruling coalition and the DPJ said they will work out further details when they meet again Monday. They said they are ready to quickly push the law through the Diet after reaching an agreement on the contents of the bill.