UNITED NATIONS (PA) — China and Russia urged the United Nations Security Council to stop sanctioning crucial North Korean exports such as coal, iron, iron ore and textiles, “with the intention of improving the livelihood of north Korea’s civilian population.” The draft resolution circulated Monday to council members by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s two allies would also suspend a ban on North Koreans working abroad, and put an end to a decision to repatriate all those who earning income abroad by December 22.
China and Russia made this and other proposals 16 days before Kim’s deadline at the end of December for the United States to introduce new initiatives to revive nuclear diplomacy. At Kim’s second meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last February, negotiations fell apart after the US rejected North Korean demands for the sanctions it faces in exchange for Pyongyang partly renounce its nuclear capabilities. North Korea has conducted 13 ballistic missile tests since May to pressure Washington, and has hinted that it will suspend its moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests if the Trump administration makes no substantial concessions before the Year Nuevo.La proposed resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, applauds the ongoing dialogue between the United States and North Korea, and urges all parties to weigh in “more practical steps to reduce military tension on the Korean peninsula.” It also calls for a “prompt resumption of six-party talks or the reactivation of multilateral consultations in any other similar format, with the aim of facilitating a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue”. The six-party talks involving North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan began in 2003 and led Pyongyang to accept an agreement in September 2005 to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for b economic, energy and security efficiencies. The North Korean government refused to accept the verification methods proposed by Washington, and the deal fell apart in December 2008. Since then, six-party talks have been stalled.
