Chinese, NK officials to meet amid halt in coal imports

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Kil Song in Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

The North Korean official will visit China from Tuesday to Saturday at the invitation of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing on Tuesday.

Geng said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou will also hold talks with Ri.

“The two sides will exchange views on China- North Korea ties, as well as international and regional issues of common concern,” said the spokesman.

On Tuesday, Kong will meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on the situation in the Korean Peninsula and other issues of common concern, Geng said.

Last week, China announced the suspension of coal imports from North Korea for the rest of 2017 in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2321. The suspension will run from February 19 to December 31 this year.

The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state- run media outlet, ran a critique of China on Thursday. Without directly mentioning its name, it criticized China for having “unhesitatingly taken inhumane steps” to suspend imports of North Korean coal, which will have a nega- tive impact on the lives of North Koreans. The article also said that Beijing’s criticism of Pyongyang’s recent missile test and the suspension are “dancing to the tune of the US” and tantamount to the actions of the enemy state.

The thinly veiled article refers to China as “a neighboring country, which often claims itself to be a ‘ friendly neighbor,’” and accused Beijing of essentially abandoning North Korea by cutting off imports of coal in compliance with UN sanctions.