UNITED NATIONS – China and Russia called Thursday for an easing ofsanctions against North Korea, rejecting a US call at the UN SecurityCouncil to press on with vigorous enforcement despite a dip in tensions.
Led by the United States, the Security Council adopted three sanctionsresolutions last year aimed at depriving North Korea of revenue for itsnuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a council meeting that the thaw inrelations between North and South Korea — combined with warmer US-NorthKorean ties — should lead to sanctions relief.
“Given the positive developments,” Wang said the council should consider aprovision to “modify the sanctions measures in light of the DPRK scompliance.”
Russia backed China s call to consider a sanctions review.
Declaring that sanctions should not become a form of “collectivepunishment,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov argued that it was timeto send a positive signal to Pyongyang to encourage concessions.
“Steps by the DPRK toward gradual disarmament should be followed by aneasing of sanctions,” said Lavrov.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened the meeting, held during theannual UN General Assembly session, by demanding strict enforcement ofsanctions.
Pompeo — who will pay his fourth visit to Pyongyang next month — voicedhope for the “dawn of a new day” with Pyongyang, but credited sanctionswith bringing North Korea to the table and said there should be no let-upin pressure.
“Enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions must continue vigorously andwithout fail until we realize final, fully verified denuclearization,”Pompeo said.
“The members of this Council must set the example on that effort, and wemust all hold each other accountable.”
In thinly veiled criticism of China, which is by far the most importanttrading partner of North Korea, Pompeo said sanctions have been repeatedlyviolated — including, this year already, its annual cap of importing500,000 barrels of oil.
Pompeo said the United States had also detected inter-ship transfers ofrefined petroleum, which is also banned under UN sanctions, and said thatNorth Korea was illegally exporting coal to fund its weapons program.
He also criticized Russia for bringing in workers from North Korea — whichhuman rights groups consider a vital source of hard currency for theregime, with the laborers often working in slave-like conditions onconstruction sites.
China, which has fast-deteriorating relations with US President DonaldTrump yet has largely welcomed his outreach to North Korea, stressed theneed for diplomacy.
“China firmly believes that pressure is not the end,” Wang said. “Bothimplementing sanctions and promoting political settlement are equallyimportant.”
Lavrov said it was “inappropriate and untimely” for the United States andits partners to “impose a course of tightening sanctions” when North Koreahas “taken important steps” toward denuclearization.
“It seems it would be logical to strengthen this momentum,” said Lavrov.
The Russian foreign minister also accused the United States of hypocrisyafter Trump abandoned an international agreement on Iran, which drasticallycut back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
North Korean representatives attended the Security Council session, butthey did not ask to speak.
On Wednesday, Pompeo met his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister RiYong Ho, and called the talks “very positive.”
Trump has heaped praise on North Korea s Kim Jong Un, one of the world smost repressive leaders, and boasted that his diplomacy has prevented war.
But underlying US calculations, many analysts doubt that North Korea hasshifted more than rhetorically after already refining its arsenal throughsix nuclear tests since 2006 and repeated rocket launches.
The United States is also hearing calls for step-by-step sanctions relieffrom ally South Korea, whose left-leaning president, Moon Jae-in, helpedarrange Trump s diplomatic drive.
Trump met Kim in June the first-ever summit between the two countries thatnever signed a peace treaty.
Trump is seeking a second summit in the near future, which Pompeo will seekto arrange while in Pyongyang.
Pompeo said that North Korea would enjoy a “much brighter future” if Kimfulfills promises to the United States to give up its nuclear and ballisticmissile program.
“But the path to peace and a brighter future is only through diplomacy anddenuclearization,” Pompeo said.
“That means any other path North Korea may choose will inevitably lead toever-increasing isolation and pressure.” – APP/AFP