China, Russia revive push to lift UN sanctions on North Korea | Al Jazeera

China and Russia are pushing the United Nations Security Council to ease sanctions on North Korea by reviving a 2019 attempt to remove a ban on Pyongyang’s exports of statues, seafood and textiles, and expanding it to include lifting a refined petroleum imports cap.

In a reworked draft resolution seen by the Reuters news agency, China and Russia want the 15-member council to remove those sanctions “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population” in the isolated Asian state.

North Korea has been subject to UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The draft resolution also includes other measures first proposed by Russia and China nearly two years ago, including lifting a ban on North Koreans working abroad and exempting inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects from sanctions.

Several UN diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the refreshed draft resolution would find little support.