North Korea continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of international sanctions and despite the country’s worsening economic situation, according to an excerpt of a confidential U.N. report seen Friday by Reuters.The report by a panel of independent sanctions monitors to the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee said Pyongyang “continued to seek material and technology for these programs overseas.””Despite the country’s focus on its worsening economic travails, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea continued to maintain and develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” the sanctions monitors concluded.North Korea is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.N. report.FILE – A student has her temperature taken as part of anti-COVID-19 procedures before entering the Pyongyang Secondary School No. 1 in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 22, 2021.The isolated Asian nation imposed a strict lockdown last year amid the coronavirus pandemic that has slashed its trade and aid access, hurting an economy already burdened by international sanctions.’Tense’ food situationIn June, leader Kim Jong Un said the country faced a “tense” food situation and much would depend on this year’s harvests.”Statements made by DPRK suggested a deepening humanitarian crisis in the country, although the COVID-19 blockade means that the relative impact of sanctions on the humanitarian situation has probably decreased,” the U.N. monitors wrote.”With trade all but stopped by the blockade, and last year’s harvest badly affected by floods, the current prospects of the wider DPRK population are poor,” they said.North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The Security Council has steadily strengthened sanctions in a bid to cut off funding for the programs.Among the sanctions imposed are a ban on the export of coal and other commodities and the import of oil.”Maritime exports from DPRK of coal and other sanctioned commodities continued, but at a much-reduced level. The import of oil products reported to the panel fell substantially in the first half of the year,” according to the U.N. report.Overseas earningsPyongyang also continued to access international financial institutions, and North Korean workers continued to earn money overseas for use in state programs, said the U.N. sanctions monitors, adding: “Officials overseas continued to feel pressure to develop revenue streams.”The monitors said they were continuing to investigate North Korea’s involvement in global cyber activity and collaboration by North Korean academics and universities with scientific institutes abroad, “focusing on studies with potential applications in WMD [weapons of mass destruction] programs.”The U.N. sanctions monitors have previously reported that North Korea has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars using cyberattacks.
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Japan on Friday marked 76 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with low-key ceremonies and disappointment over a refusal by Olympics organizers to hold a minute’s silence.Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year’s main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace.Virus concerns meant the general public were once again kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.Participants, many dressed in black and wearing face masks, offered a silent prayer at 8:15 am (2315 GMT Thursday), when the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped.An estimated 140,000 people were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima, which was followed three days later by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.On Friday, Hiroshima’s mayor called for leaders to visit the cities, and warned “experience has taught humanity that threatening others for self-defense benefits no one”.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also delivered a speech in the city, but was later forced to apologize for skipping part of the text — reportedly on Japan’s support of international nuclear disarmament — apparently by accident.International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach made a trip to Hiroshima before the Games began, to mark the start of an Olympic truce that urges a halt to fighting worldwide to allow the safe passage of athletes.But organizers stopped short of granting a request from bomb survivors and the city for a minute of silent prayer on Friday morning.In a letter, Bach said the Olympic closing ceremony would include time to honor victims of tragedy throughout history.”His letter didn’t say anything about our request,” Tomohiro Higaki from Hiroshima’s peace promotion division told AFP.”It is disappointing, even though we appreciate that Bach visited Hiroshima to learn the reality of bomb victims,” he said.Bach’s controversial visit saw more than 70,000 people signing a petition opposing the trip and accusing him of seeking to “promote the Olympics” despite opposition to the Games.Yoko Sado, 43, strolling through the peace memorial park with her seven-year-old son, said the lack of visitors because of the pandemic had robbed Hiroshima of a chance to spread a message of peace.”I’m a bit disappointed,” she told AFP. “It would have been a great opportunity.”This year’s ceremony is the first since an international treaty banning nuclear weapons entered into force last year when a 50th country ratified the text.Japan Marks 75th Anniversary of Hiroshima Atomic BombingCeremony to observe world’s first  atomic attack scaled down from years past due to coronavirus pandemicThe treaty has not been signed by nuclear-armed states, but activists believe it will have a gradual deterrent effect.Japan has also declined to sign it, saying the accord will carry no weight without buy-in from nuclear-armed states.But the country is also in a delicate position as it is under the US nuclear umbrella, with US forces responsible for its defense.
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Australia will not accept Chinese demands to change policy in order to restart bilateral talks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said.”We’ve been advised by China that they will only engage in high-level dialogue if we meet certain conditions. Australia places no conditions on dialogue. We can’t meet (their) conditions now,” Payne said in a speech late Thursday in Canberra.Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its nascent 5G broadband networking in 2018, cooled further after Canberra called last year for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, first reported in central China last year.China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley, and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes.The Chinese embassy in Canberra did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Payne’s speech.Despite the bilateral tensions, China remains Australia’s largest trading partner.In the 12 months to March, Australia exported $110.1 billion worth of goods to China, down 0.6% from the previous year, but exports have been supported by strong prices for iron ore, the largest single item in trade with China. 
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The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it has returned an additional $452 million stolen from Malaysia’s investment fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), bringing the total amount of money repatriated to the Malaysian government in the last five years to at least $1.2 billion.The funds had been laundered through international financial institutions in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg, the Justice Department said in a statement.1MDB was created in 2009 to raise billions of dollars through global partnerships and foreign direct investment to “improve the well-being of the Malaysian people,” according to the Justice Department.Instead, senior 1MDB officials, associates and businessman Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, are accused of embezzling more than $4.5 billion from the fund between 2009 and 2015, according to the Justice Department.In a scandal that shocked the financial world, prosecutors say the executives spent the pilfered money on luxury items such as expensive homes and properties in Beverly Hills, New York and London; a 300-foot superyacht; and fine art by Monet and Van Gogh. Some of the embezzled money was used to bribe foreign officials.Since 2016, the Justice Department says it has recovered more than $1.7 billion in assets stolen from the Malaysian fund. Efforts to recover additional assets linked to the corruption scandal continue, the department says.The scandal has entangled major financial institutions and high-level executives. Last year, New York-based Goldman Sachs agreed to pay more than $2.9 billion to settle civil and criminal charges brought in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and elsewhere.FILE – Former Goldman Sachs executive Roger Ng, center, leaves Brooklyn Federal court with attorney Marc Agnifilo, right, May 6, 2019, in New York.In 2018, a federal grand jury in New York indicted Jho and former Goldman Sachs executive Ng Chong Hwa, also known as Roger Ng, on charges of conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB and conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.Ng was extradited from Malaysia to the United States in 2019. Jho remains a fugitive.In June, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned a superseding indictment against Jho and Haitian American rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, accusing them of waging a back-channel campaign to stop the Justice Department’s investigation of the 1MDB scheme. 
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Just days after the Tokyo Olympics began, Japan started to see a sharp increase in coronavirus cases. On Thursday, the country topped 15,000 confirmed daily infections for the first time.  Medical experts are now debating whether and to what extent the Games are to blame for the outbreak, which officials warn is “extremely severe.”Protesters demonstrate in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, Aug. 2, 2021. They were protesting against the Olympics and Paralympics held during the pandemic.Olympics organizers insist there is no link between the Games and the spike in cases. So far, only 353 Olympic-related individuals have tested positive. All visiting Olympics personnel, most of whom are vaccinated, are subject to a protective bubble meant to limit their interactions with the public.Many Japanese medical experts are not so confident about that assessment though. The main problem is not so much the Olympic bubble, they say, as it is the very presence of the Olympics themselves, which have sent mixed messages and weakened public vigilance.“I don’t think that the infections [of Olympics-related personnel] are directly related to the rapid spread of infections at all. But I think the fact the Olympics are being held has impacted people’s awareness,” Shigeru Omi, the government’s top medical advisor, told lawmakers this week.Japanese officials for weeks have warned residents to stay home and watch the Games on television, especially since fans are banned from nearly all events. That message has fallen flat for many Japanese, however, who can still be seen gathering in public places in Tokyo and elsewhere. “Many Japanese people find it ridiculous to follow orders to stay home. Japanese people don’t understand why they should stay home even though the Olympics are being held,” Norio Sugaya, infectious disease expert and doctor at Keiyu Hospital in Yokohama, told VOA. Sugaya is one of many medical professionals who opposed holding the Olympic Games in Japan. In the leadup to the event, polls suggested most Japanese also did not want the Games to go ahead, although opposition softened as they approached.Journos with European media who are visiting Tokyo for #Olympics coverage were seen carousing on outside stairs of a hotel where they were staying, in a possible violation of media protocols https://t.co/dQlMkFZesa— Tomohiro Osaki (@jt_osaki) July 29, 2021Many Japanese media reports have focused on journalists and Olympics athletes who did not adhere to protective bubble guidelines. There have also been concerns the guidelines are inadequate. For instance, some Japanese volunteers and other staff work all day inside the bubble before returning home.That, plus local reporters are working alongside journos who just flew in yesterday. Plexiglass doesn’t stop covid from infecting the guy sitting right next to you if you’re together for 8 hours a day.— Grace Lee (@graceleenews) July 29, 2021Omi, though, says he sees “absolutely” no connection between the Olympics infections and Japan’s recent surge. The main cause of Japan’s COVID-19 surge is the appearance of the Delta variant, according to Sugaya, which is much more contagious and causes more serious illnesses.Even as Japan’s infection numbers surge, its number of deaths is still relatively low. The country has reported only around 10 deaths per day during the spike. However, the number of seriously ill patients has doubled over the past two weeks, officials say, potentially leading to overcrowded hospitals. Japanese officials recently announced they would focus on hospitalizing only those COVID-19 patients who are seriously ill or at risk of becoming so. Others, they say, should isolate themselves at home.The government also expanded a quasi state of emergency to eight new prefectures Thursday. Under Japan’s pandemic prevention measures, many types of dining establishments are requested — not forced — to close early and not serve alcohol. An increasing number of experts question whether more restrictions are needed until Japan’s vaccine effort can progress.Japan started slowly on vaccines but has recently sped up. According to official numbers Thursday, 32% of Japanese have been fully vaccinated, while 45% have received a single shot.
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Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations has sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres alleging a series of massacres by the military last month in the northwestern part of the country.Myanmar’s mission to the United Nations posted the letter, dated Tuesday, on its Facebook page.In the letter, Kyaw Moe Tun wrote that soldiers tortured and killed 16 men in a village in Kani township in early July, and that 10,000 people subsequently fled the area.Near the end of the month, Kyaw Moe Tun wrote, 13 bodies were found near Zee Pin Twin village after clashes between security forces and local fighters.Kyaw Moe Tun said 11 other people were killed and set on fire in Kyetchaung Taw Taik village.The ambassador represents Myanmar’s elected civilian government, which the military ousted in February. The military said it fired Kyaw Moe Tun, but the United Nations has not acknowledged the military takeover and he remains the country’s representative at the world body.Kyaw Moe Tun called on the U.N. Security Council and international community to impose an arms embargo on the military, writing in the letter to Guterres that it is “time to take decisive actions on this crisis with the urgency it deserves.”“There is no sign of easing atrocities, killing, arrest committed by the military,” Kyaw Moe Tun said. “We demand for urgent humanitarian intervention from the international community before it is too late.”Kyaw Moe Tun also said separately Wednesday that there was a reported threat against him, and that U.S. authorities had increased his security.Some information for this report came from AFP and Reuters. 
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China’s diplomatic and strategic expansion into the South Pacific appears to have run aground – at least temporarily – in Samoa, where a Beijing-allied leader has been defeated in a history-making election.A three-month constitutional crisis was resolved in late July, when Samoa’s Supreme Court declared the office of prime minister had been rightfully won by the nation’s first female chief executive, 64-year-old Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.Among the top issues in the election, which narrowly unseated long-serving Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, was a pledge by Fiame to reconsider a Beijing-financed deal for a major expansion of the island’s seaport at Vaiusu Bay.FILE – This picture released by the Samoa Observer on July 27, 2021, shows Samoa’s new Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa holding her cabinet’s first meeting at the Government Building in Apia.Making good on her promise, Fiame promptly announced that she was shelving the $100 million project, saying the proposed expansion exceeded Samoa’s needs and would leave it with too much debt.The decision will send ripples far beyond the island republic of just over 200,000 people, according to James Fanell, former director of intelligence for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, who sees it disrupting Beijing’s efforts to woo island nations that recognize Taiwan at the United Nations and expand the reach of Beijing’s fast-growing navy.Reversal of trend“It reverses the trend of nations in the South Pacific aligning with the [People’s Republic of China], which Beijing had built up before COVID-19 in nations like Kiribati and the Solomon Islands that both switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC [in 2019],” Fanell said in an interview.“The reversal of fortunes in Samoa could be a harbinger of more nations reversing course and rejecting the debt-trap model” offered by Beijing, he said.Fanell said the decision also portends “a delay or disruption” of Beijing’s SamoaCharles Edel, who served on the U.S. secretary of state’s policy planning staff from 2015 to 2017, said Fiame’s election also marked a political setback for Beijing, which had used its financial muscle to try to bolster the incumbent.”The idea that in the weeks before the election Beijing attempted to boost the incumbent’s political fortunes by rolling out a package of economic inducements, including refurbishment of a port at one-third of the cost and dangling a number of other strategic partnerships, seems to have had the opposite effect,” Edel told VOA.China’s aggressive economic expansion and “wolf warrior” diplomacy are increasingly rattling its Asian neighbors. At the same time, Edel said, “countries’ relations with China are becoming an election issue,” with voters scrutinizing leaders who are too close to Beijing.Plans snaggedThat in turn complicates China’s efforts to marginalize Taiwan at the U.N. by getting more small countries to abandon diplomatic relations with Taipei.“Beijing’s growing focus on the Pacific islands in recent years is directly related to its effort to erode and complicate the U.S. military presence and political influence in the region,” said J. Michael Cole, a Taipei-based analyst.“This focus is also related to ongoing tensions with Taiwan, which counts among Pacific island nations [nearly] one-third of the number of countries that have official diplomatic ties with it,” he told VOA.FILE – Samoa’s then-prime minister, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sept. 18, 2018.Chinese leader Xi Jinping has visited Pacific island nations twice since he became top leader in 2013, highlighting the level of attention his government gives to the region.Despite the setback in Samoa, Edel cautioned that the Pacific is vast, and given what he described as China’s “fluid and opportunistic” approach, Beijing will attempt to exploit other targets and opportunities.China’s strategyHe said China tends to carve out strategic advantages overseas through “incremental advances calculated not to trigger a significant response and actions intended to remain ambiguous until they are presented as a fait accompli.”“Beijing’s playbook in each case involves investment in a country’s critical infrastructure, acquisition of a significant piece of waterfront territory by a Chinese company, and assertions by Chinese officials that the activity is purely commercial or humanitarian,” he told VOA.“In actuality, the denials typically precede future actions toward Beijing’s true aims,” which are “military, political and economic,” he said.FILE – A worker holds a new officially approved map of China that includes the islands and maritime area that Beijing claims in the South China Sea, in May 2019 at a printing factory in Changsha in south China’s Hunan province.Edel said it helps to understand Beijing’s strategy in the South Pacific by examining what it has done closer to home in the South China Sea.“If you look through the lens of how Beijing operated in the South China Sea, their forceful seizure of land, buildup of facilities and militarization of those features with the deployment of military assets were intended to cast a threatening shadow over Southeast Asia’s politics and increase risks to the United States’ ability to access the region,” he said.”Similarly, if you begin having Chinese military facilities in some Pacific islands, that complicates the military planning, logistical staging needed for the United States to access the region. And it would be hard to imagine a Chinese military positioned across the Pacific that doesn’t shape the region’s politics.”Samoa, meanwhile, can be expected to present a new, highly independent face to its South Pacific neighbors, according to Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow at London-based Chatham House and a nonresident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies headquartered in Washington.Paskal told VOA that Fiame is “strong, independent, and she cares about her country and her people. She will stand up to Beijing. And for the same reasons she will also stand up to [New Zealand] and [Australia] when their plans for Samoa don’t align with hers.”The best thing for everyone in the region, Paskal said, is “strong, independent leaders who care about their people and countries and who align [with democratic nations] out of choice to make the region more secure and prosperous for all.”
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It’s not unusual for the Olympic Games to attract controversy. Then again, not every Olympics is hosted by a country being accused of genocide. That’s what is creating waves upon the approach of the 2022 Winter Olympics, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports.Jesusemen Oni contributed to this report.
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As Ameruddin Pora’s relatives gathered in his living room, shouting at the final of the Olympics badminton women’s doubles, he locked himself in his room to watch his daughter win Indonesia’s historic gold medal. Apriyani Rahayu, 23, and her veteran partner Greysia Polii picked up the badminton-mad country’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo on Monday, and its first-ever Olympic medal in the women’s doubles. “Everyone was screaming with joy outside, I decided to lock myself up in my room so that I can focus (on) praying while watching the game alone, and Allah heard my prayers. She won the gold medal,” 63-year-old Pora told AFP on Tuesday a day after his daughter’s win. Her fellow Indonesians were also celebrating, taking to social media on Monday to hail the gold medal win, while President Joko Widodo said the victory was a gift for the country’s independence day that is slated for August 17. Pora said his daughter used the death of her mother, Siti Jauhar in 2015, as fuel for the momentous victory, a gift to the woman who inspired her rise to become a professional badminton player. One day before flying to Tokyo, Rahayu flew home to Konawe city in southeast Sulawesi island to visit her mother’s grave and to ask for a blessing from her father.  The badminton star’s relatives also came to Pora’s house to pray for her during the short home visit. “She has this tradition whenever she wants to attend a competition, she always returns home to meet her parents, asking me for a prayer,” he said. “Our prayers are finally answered by God.” As soon as Rahayu arrived in Tokyo, she called her dad on a daily basis to ask him to continue his prayers for her. He said his daughter’s success is thanks to a combination of those prayers and her own hard work. “Whenever she leaves the hotel heading to the venue, she always called me asking for prayers. I always tell her to be calm and leave everything to Allah,” he said. He had some advice for his daughter about securing more golds after her Olympic win: listen to your coaches and don’t become arrogant. “She is always a very motivated person. She never gets tired practicing,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t only pray for Rahayu, but also for Greysia. I pray for both. They made us proud.” 
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A report by U.S. Republican lawmakers says a “preponderance of evidence” proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility — a conclusion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not reached. The report, released Monday, also cited “ample evidence” that Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) scientists — aided by U.S. experts and Chinese and U.S. government funds — were working to modify coronaviruses to infect humans, and such manipulation could be hidden. FILE – Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, speaks with members of the media outside of the White House, Oct. 16, 2019.Representative Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the report by the panel’s Republican staff. It urged a bipartisan investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has killed 4.4 million people worldwide.  China denies a genetically modified coronavirus leaked from the facility in Wuhan where the first COVID-19 cases were detected in 2019, a leading but unproven theory among some experts. Beijing also denies allegations of a cover-up. Other experts suspect the pandemic was caused by an animal virus likely transmitted to humans at a seafood market near the WIV. “We now believe it’s time to completely dismiss the wet market as the source,” said the report. “We also believe the preponderance of the evidence proves the virus did leak from the WIV and that it did so sometime before September 12, 2019.” The report cited what it called new and underreported information about safety protocols at the lab, including a July 2019 request for a $1.5 million overhaul of a hazardous waste treatment system for the facility, which was less than two years old. In April, the top U.S. intelligence agency said it concurred with the scientific consensus that the virus was not human-caused or genetically modified. U.S. President Joe Biden in May ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to accelerate their hunt for the origins of the virus and report back in 90 days. A source familiar with current intelligence assessments said the U.S. intelligence community has not reached any conclusion whether the virus came from animals or the WIV. 
 
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With worries of a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections overwhelming the country’s hospitals, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that only seriously ill coronavirus patients or those at risk of becoming so will be admitted for treatment. Others infected with COVID-19 will have to isolate at home in order to try to make sure there are enough beds available. Japan is adding about 10,000 new cases per day, prompting the head of the Japan Medical Association to call Tuesday for a nationwide state of emergency. Residents wait at the observation area during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination session for those aged between 12 and 14, in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, China, Aug. 3, 2021. (China Daily via Reuters)In China, authorities said Tuesday all residents of Wuhan will be tested after the city recorded its first domestic infections in more than a year. The virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, and the city of 11 million people was put under a strict lockdown in January 2020 that lasted 76 days. As many countries worry about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, South Korean health officials on Tuesday reported the country’s first two cases of a sublineage known as delta plus. Britain, Portugal and India are among countries that previously reported a few cases of delta plus infections. Hundreds of people line up to receive their second dose of vaccine against the coronavirus at the municipal ground in Hyderabad, India, July 29, 2021.The World Health Organization has said it is important to closely watch such changes in the virus that could be more resistant to drugs and vaccines, and for more genomic sequencing of COVID-19 tests for tracking and studying. Countries are also rushing to vaccinate their populations to drive down infections. Pakistan’s top health official reported Tuesday that the country had administered 1 million doses in one day for the first time. Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi began a partial lockdown on Saturday with a wave of cases putting pressure on its health care system. In Australia, authorities said a lockdown in Sydney could be allowed to expire at the end of the month if half of the city is vaccinated by then. Australian airline Qantas expressed less optimism Tuesday, saying it expects the restrictions in Sydney to be in place for at least two months and announcing furloughs for 2,500 of its 26,000 workers in Australia.    More restrictions in USIn the United States, more jurisdictions are requiring employees to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing as the country grapples with a rise of infections blamed on the delta variant.      FILE – People wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as the delta variant has led to a surge in infections, in New York City, July 30, 2021.Denver, Colorado, Mayor Michael Hancock announced Monday the city will mandate all city employees and private sector workers in high-risk settings to be vaccinated against the virus by the end of September.     New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said state health care workers, along with workers in corrections facilities or assisted living centers, must be vaccinated or face testing twice a week.     In New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo urged businesses to turn away unvaccinated customers. He said it is in businesses’ best interests because many customers want to know that the customer next to them is vaccinated.     The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that 70% of U.S. adults have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. President Joe Biden had originally aimed to pass that milestone by July 4. Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
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North Korea wants international sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities lifted in order to restart denuclearization talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers said Tuesday. 
 
The North also has 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 Korea’s state-run media made no mention on Tuesday of any new request for the lifting sanctions to restart talks.  
 
The South Korea legislators said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had both expressed a willingness to rebuild trust and improve ties since April, and Kim had asked to reconnect the hotlines. 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. South Korea’s central bank said last week North Korea’s economy suffered its biggest contraction in 23 years in 2020 as it was battered by U.N. sanctions, COVID-19 lockdown measures and the weather. Moon has made improving diplomatic and economic relations with North Korea a top priority, while the United States has long insisted relations with North Korea can not improve until it gives up its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and test-fired missiles capable of hitting the United States. The U.N. Security Council has issued a wide range of sanctions against North Korea, including entities and individuals in the reclusive country, for pursuing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in defiance of U.N. resolutions. The United States, Japan and South Korea also have issued sanctions on North Korea, but they are not binding on other countries. A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration told Reuters in March that North Korea had not responded to behind-the-scenes diplomatic outreach since mid-February. The Biden administration has been cautious in publicly describing its approach to North Korea, saying it was carrying out a comprehensive policy review following former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs] since 2017, ahead of an historic meeting in Singapore between leader Kim Jong Un and Trump in 2018. That meeting and two subsequent ones failed to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons or its missile program. 
 
Independent U.N. sanctions monitors found that North Korea maintained and developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programs throughout 2020 in violation of sanctions, helping fund them with some $300 million stolen through cyber hacks. 
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