Seoul may lift unilateral sanctions against N. Korea – FM

Seoul is considering lifting some of its unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang to create more momentum for diplomacy aimed at improving relations and defusing the nuclear crisis, according to South Korea’s foreign minister. Kang Kyung-wha told lawmakers on Wednesday that the government is reviewing whether to lift sanctions that South Korea imposed on the North in 2010 following a deadly attack on a warship that killed 45 South Korean sailors, AP reported. Seoul then effectively shut down all cross-border economic cooperation except for a joint factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. The South shut down the Kaesong factory park in February 2016 in retaliation of a North Korean nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. The potential removal of unilateral sanctions would be a largely symbolic move as it’s impossible for South Korea to resume joint economic projects with North Korea under US-led international sanctions.