UNITED NATIONS • China and Russia have proposed that the UN Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting seafood, textiles and huge, socialist-style statues, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters, in a move Moscow said is aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
The draft also called for a ban to be lifted on North Koreans working abroad and the termination of a 2017 requirement for all such workers to be repatriated by next week.
The draft resolution would also exempt inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects from United Nations sanctions.
It was not immediately clear when or if the draft resolution could be put to a vote in the 15-member Security Council. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
"We're not rushing things," Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told Reuters, adding that negotiations with council members were to begin yesterday.
He said the sanctions they were proposing to lift were "not directly related to the North Korea nuclear programme, this is a humanitarian issue".
A US State Department official said now was not the time for the Security Council to consider lifting sanctions on North Korea as the country is "threatening to conduct an escalated provocation, refusing to meet to discuss denuclearisation, and continuing to maintain and advance its prohibited weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes".
North Korea has issued increasingly strident declarations in recent weeks, even promising an ominous "Christmas gift" if Washington does not come up with some concessions by year-end.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be "disappointed" if North Korea had "something in the works", warning that if it did, "we'll take care of it".
"We're watching it very closely," Mr Trump said at the White House.
The sanctions on industries that Russia and China on Monday proposed lifting earned North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars. They were put in place in 2016 and 2017 to try and cut off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters yesterday that some sanctions should be lifted in the light of North Korea's compliance "with relevant resolutions".
"We hope the Security Council will speak with one voice in support of a political resolution," Mr Geng told a regular briefing, adding that the need for a resolution to the situation on the Korean peninsula was becoming more urgent.
The US, Britain and France have insisted that no UN sanctions should be lifted until North Korea gives up its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Pyongyang has been subject to UN sanctions because of those programmes since 2006.
"On North Korea, as in the past, it's very important that the council maintains unity," German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen said on Monday.
Concerns were growing internationally that North Korea could resume nuclear or long-range missile testing - suspended since 2017 - because denuclearisation talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Mr Trump have met three times since June last year, but no progress towards denuclearisation has been made, and Mr Kim has given Mr Trump until the end of this year to show flexibility.
The US special envoy for North Korea, Mr Stephen Biegun, ended a three-day visit yesterday to South Korea where he tried to salvage negotiations, but did not appear to get a response from Pyongyang to his call to discuss "all issues of interest".
On Monday, Mr Biegun reached out directly to North Korea, saying: "It is time for us to do our jobs. Let's get this done. We are here, and you know how to reach us."
Mr Nebenzia said the draft resolution was aimed at encouraging talks between the US and North Korea. "That's the whole idea, we don't do this resolution in spite, we really want to facilitate," he added.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
