Russia and China pushing for lifting of North Korea sanctions?

News agency Reuters has reported that China and Russia ‘are pushing the U.N. 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.’

The Security Council should remove the sanctions ‘with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population,’ Reuters reports a draft proposal as saying, adding that it also urges lifting a ban on North Koreans working abroad and exempting inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects from sanctions.

In an 8 October report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (‘DPRK’), Tomás Ojea Quintana described a deteriorating humanitarian situation: ‘Many people who rely on trade and commercial activities in the border areas in the north of the country have lost their income. Sanctions and the command economy continue to detrimentally impact livelihoods and curb sustainable development. People’s access to food is a serious concern and the most vulnerable children and elderly are at risk of starvation. Amongst his recommendations was that the UN Security Council should consider lifting sanctions ‘that negatively affect humanitarian assistance and human rights, including under the Covid-19 pandemic’.

But sanctions expert and former UN sanctions monitor for the DPRK, Neil Watts, now an adviser with the consultancy Compliance and Capacity Skills International, urged scepticism toward Russia and China’s push. China and Russia previously attempted to persuade the United Nations Security Council to ease sanctions in 2019 but it was roundly rejected, he said. ‘The resolutions do make provision to “modify, suspend or lift measures” should there be signs of the DPRK’s “compliance”; but thus far there has been none and North Korea has continued to prioritise its resources toward its nuclear programmes.’

The proposal ‘has been in play during bi/tri-lateral talks with the US for some time. In reality, it is more of a negotiation talking point than any real attempt to lift sanctions, as I can’t see either Russia, or China being happy about an unhampered North Korea at their border,’ he told WorldECR. As regards food shortages, he said, ‘The arguments need to be seen in perspective. For example, apart from the land borders being sealed off for Covid-19 containment, there are no measures constraining food imports or agricultural products, and the DPRK is illegally selling its fishing licenses to Chinese companies, when the sanctions prohibition was meant to ensure the North Koreans have adequate protein available from their fishing industry.’