Today, the South Korean Special Delegation to Pyongyang met with Kim Jong Un and other North Korean officials to deliver Moon Jae In's letter to Kim and discuss details for the upcoming Moon-Kim summit. On the same day, according to Channel A News Top Ten, the US Department of Commerce announced additional sanctions against a Chinese enterprise and individual in Hong Kong for selling armored Mercedes-Benz vehicles to North Korea, which are for the use of Kim Jong Un. The US contends the vehicles violate the UN sanctions against North Korea. One wonders if these are the same vehicles which the UK publication, The Telegraph, reported as a sanctions violation in August 2014. I am unable to verify this secondary sanction announcement by the US, as alleged, elsewhere.
Channel A News Top Ten analysts believe the timing of the sanctions announcement was meant as a signal to South Korean officials who disputed US contentions that fuel and generator deliveries to the joint North-South liaison office in Kaesong North Korea violate UN sanctions. The Korean foreign ministry has said that the office and the material supplies associated with it, offer no economic benefit to North Korea. The timing of the opening of the liaison office was on the agenda for the meeting in Pyongyang today. The United States also wishes to discourage South Korea from proceeding too quickly on economic and other measures to normalize relations with North Korea, while the diplomatic talks between the US and North Korea are stalled.
President Trump has claimed that China is behind the failure of North Korea to denuclearize. President Xi Jinping was widely expected to visit Pyongyang to attend the September 9 celebrations and military review ceremonies to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean state. Today it's reported that Xi will not attend and is sending Li Zhanshu, the Chairman of the National Peoples Congress, estimated to be the third ranking party official in China, and very close to Xi.
NBC News is reporting today, "China eases economic pressure on North Korea, undercutting the Trump admin" asserting that China is substantially violating sanctions at this point undermining the US maximum pressure campaign against North Korea.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/china-eases-economic-pressure-north-korea-undercutting-trump-admin-n906166
An analysis in 38North today by Yun Sun, The State of Play in Sino-DPRK Relations presents an alternative view.
https://www.38north.org/2018/09/ysun090518/
Channel A News Top Ten reported recently that North Korean ships were observed transferring coal at sea in Vietnamese waters, and that chat applications from China and South Korea were being used by intermediaries to broker the exchanges. The South Korean application is a widely used international application in hangul script and doesn't imply South Korean involvement.
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