REUTERS
August 3, 2021 at 14:30 JST
In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, poses with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a photo inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP)
SEOUL--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 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.
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