China was very active in calling on the US to ease its embargoes against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ahead of the DPRK-USA Hanoi Summit Vietnam which took place on February 27-28. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he understands DPRK leader Kim Jong-un’s hope for the US’s corresponding acts in return for the DPRK’s denuclearization. 

Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper on February 28 cited Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi as saying that the first DPRK-US summit has opened up opportunities for dialogue and peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

Therefore, the second summit would be an important step towards the realisation of the peace and denuclearization mechanism on the peninsula, he said. 

The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 21 called on the United Nations Security Council to discuss easing embargoes on the DPRK. 

China accounted for up to 90 percent of the DPRK’s exports before 2018. However, in the year, the DPRK’s export turnover to China dropped 88 percent compared with 2017 due to impact of the embargoes. 

Meanwhile, Russia has also expressed its hope that the second summit would lead to the loosening of the sanctions.   

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on February 26 that economic pressures and embargoes on the DPRK should be eased in exchange for the country’s denuclearization. -VNA