By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ANKARA (AA) – Pyongyang has sought relief from UN sanctions to “boost trust” ahead of a scheduled second summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Trump and Kim broke the years long impasse last year after holding a historic summit in Singapore with an aim to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and Pyongyang expecting relief from harsh sanctions which disallows any foreign investment in the country.
Korean news agency Yonhap quoting Pyongyang's main newspaper said that the Kim administration had sought relief from sanctions.
“[…] bilateral relations cannot improve without trust-building efforts,” Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the organ of the Kim’s ruling party, wrote on Wednesday.
“Improvement in relations and sanctions cannot go side by side, ” the newspaper added.
UN imposed harsh sanctions on Pyongyang in 2006 after the latter held its first nuclear tests.
Interestingly, UN last week allowed Seoul to take up a joint excavation project with Pyongyang. The development was seen as a concession to North Korea for halting its nuclear projects post Trump-Kim summit last year.
“If the basis of improvement in relations is respect and trust, then it can be said that the basis of sanctions is hostility and confrontation,” the North Korean newspaper said.
On Jan. 18, Kim’s deputy Kim Yong Chol led a North Korean delegation to Washington, where he met Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The duo agreed for a second summit but a specific date and venue is yet to be announced.
