The UN Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a new round of sanctions on the North in December previous year, slashing the country’s oil and petroleum imports.
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“We can’t lower deliveries any further”, Russia’s Ambassador to Pyongyang Alexander Matzegora told Russia’s RIA news agency.
North Korea has severe shortages of gas and diesel, and this situation could lead to serious problems, including a humanitarian crisis.
In addition to privately expressing his reservations about some of Trump’s foreign policies, Cha also wrote an editorial in The Washington Post earlier this week that elaborated on why he felt a “bloody nose” approach toward North Korea could backfire. Those resolution placed sanctions on the North by limiting the country’s exports and imports and financial activity. The North Korean delegation will comprise 46 members, including 22 athletes and 24 officials.
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Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chuying said that common interests outweigh differences between the sides and the US should view the relationship “correctly”.
Matsegora explained that current U.N. Security Council sanctions allowed North Korea to import 540,000 tons of crude oil through a single, aging pipeline from China and about 60,000 tons of oil products from China, Russia and other nations.
Last year, North Korea tested ICBMs that had the potential range of reaching the United States mainland and in September it conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test. An announcement about intensified background checks on refugees from 11 countries, put in place in October, also reportedly included North Korea. The targets of the sanctions are accused of involvement in trading goods used in weapons production.
Asked why South Korea or North Korea had not called off Wednesday’s joint training, Baik said it was “inappropriate” to try to assess Pyongyang’s intentions while the South was only carrying out its agreements made with the North.
The warning came after relations between the countries appeared to cool slightly, with North Korea agreeing to take part in the Winter Olympics that start in PyeongChang on February 9. Calling on Congress to lift budgetary caps and boost spending on the military, Trump said that “unmatched power is the surest means of our defense”.
On Monday, the US State Department said that Washington had warned Moscow of “the illicit North Korean coal trading through its ports”.
She added: “We will continue to match the Kim regime’s choice of aggressive action with actions of global sanctions”.
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Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English from Reuters and AP sources.
