N. Korea wants sanctions eased to restart talks with US

SEOUL • North Korea wants international sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities lifted before it restarts denuclearisation talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers said yesterday.

The North has also demanded the easing of sanctions on its imports of luxury goods, the lawmakers said after being briefed by Mr Park Jie-won, head of the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's main intelligence agency. The briefing came a week after the two Koreas restored hotlines that Pyongyang suspended a year ago, the first hint in months that North Korea might be more responsive to engagement efforts.

"As a precondition to reopen talks, North Korea argues that the United States should allow mineral exports and imports of refined oil and necessities," Mr Ha Tae-keung, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters, citing Mr Park.

"I asked which necessities they want the most, and they said high-class liquors and suits were included, not just for Kim Jong Un's own consumption but to distribute to Pyongyang's elite," he said, referring to North Korea's leader.

North Korea's state-run media made no mention yesterday of any new request for the lifting of sanctions to restart talks.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed a wide range of sanctions on North Korea for pursuing its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in defiance of UN resolutions. Pyongyang has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and test-fired missiles capable of hitting the US. The US, Japan and South Korea have also imposed their own sanctions on North Korea.

The North has not tested a nuclear weapon or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) since 2017 ahead of three US-North Korea summit meetings.

Mr Kim Byung-kee, another South Korean legislator, said North Korea appeared to have "harboured discontent" with the US for not offering concessions for the moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests. "The United States should be able to bring them back to dialogue by readjusting some sanctions," Mr Kim said, citing Mr Park.

A senior official in President Joe Biden's administration told Reuters in March that North Korea had not responded to behind-the-scenes outreach.

After a review of North Korea policy, the US administration said it would explore diplomacy to achieve the goal of complete denuclearisation of North Korea but would not seek a grand bargain with Pyongyang.

The North Korean leader's sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, who has assumed a significant role in the administration, warned South Korea on Sunday that joint exercises with the US would undermine a thaw between the two Koreas.

South Korean legislator Mr Kim quoted Mr Park as saying the question of exercises had to be considered: "There's also a need to consider responding flexibly to South Korea-US military exercises."

REUTERS