FILE PHOTO: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the second plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party in this still image taken from a KRT footage on February 12, 2021. KRT TV via REUTERS
August 3, 2021
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea wants international sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities lifted in order to restart denuclearisation talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The North has also demanded the easing of sanctions on its imports of luxury goods to be able to bring in fine liquors and suits, the lawmakers said after being briefed by South Korea’s main intelligence agency.
The briefing came a week after the two Koreas restored hotlines that North Korea suspended a year ago.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have shared a willingness to rebuild trust and improve ties since April, and Kim had asked to reconnect the hotlines, the lawmakers said.
They also said North Korea was in need of some 1 million tons of rice, as its economy was battered by the coronavirus pandemic and bad weather last year.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Robert Birsel)
Source: One America News Network
