Obama okays tougher sanctions on North Korea

Washington, Feb 19  US President Barack Obama has signed into law the legislation to impose more stringent sanctions on North Korea, the White House said Thursday.

The US House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly passed the bill with a 408-2 vote. The legislation was approved by the senate earlier last week, Xinhua news agency reported.

The legislation requires the Obama administration to sanction anyone involved with North Korea's nuclear program, luxury goods, money laundering and human rights abuses.

The move cones after North Korea said it had launched on February 7 a Kwangmyongsong-4 Earth observation satellite into orbit earlier this month and tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb last month.