China called on the United Nations Security Council to approve a draft resolution to ease penalties on North Korea. The plan presented jointly with Russia, is aimed at addressing the concerns of all parties to help restart nuclear talks.
Geng Shuang, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Tuesday that Beijing was trying to break the current deadlock and avoid setbacks on the Korean peninsula.
"We are in favor of a balanced response to the concerns of all parties, especially North Korea's legitimate and rational concerns about their security and growth," Geng said.
Geng disclosed that the US and North Korea would "respect each other's interests and demonstrate some flexibility and honesty and reestablish dialogues."
Worries On Kim's Nuke Tests
The Chinese official added that China hoped ththe at the security committee would talk with one voice and "take the historic duty" to support the draft as the need for a resolution became more pressing.
There has been increasing international concern that North Korea may restart its nuclear or long-range missile testing -suspended since 2017 - since Pyongyang and Washington's denuclearization negotiations stalled.
Leader Kim Jong-un of North Korea and President Donald Trump of the United States have met three times since June 2018. No progress has been made, however, and in October work-level talks broke down.
North Korea has carried out a series of experiments at missile sites over the past few weeks, combined with increasingly harsh announcements.
One North Korean official told the US that negotiations were running out of time and had to choose what kind of "Christmas present" they needed.
Salaries Funding Nukes?
The joint Chinese-Russian resolution aims to lift a ban on North Koreans working overseas and put an end to a deadline for repatriation of such workers by Sunday.
Two years ago, when the council adopted the repatriation provision, it was feared that the North Korean overseas' earnings, estimated at nearly 100,000, were being used to fund the nuclear and ballistic missile programs of the country.
The joint motion for a resolution also calls for an export ban on goods such as fish, sculpt,ures and textiles. According to the Associated Press, the selling of large, socialist-style sculptures to former ideological allies in Africa is a trade worth around $10 million a year.
The draft also calls for UN sanctions exemptions for inter-Korean rail and road projects and a resumption of "six-party talks" involving North and South Korea, China, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
