"I finished the North Korea-US summit meeting successfully, so we’d like your country to make efforts to get the sanctions lifted as soon as possible," Kim allegedly said, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
On June 19-20, Kim met with Xi in Beijing, which was his third visit to China over the last few months. The sides focused on the results of the June 12 summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
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According to the newspaper, Kim noted that the sanctions "have severely battered" his country.
Xi, in turn, reportedly pledged to "make [his] utmost efforts" to push for lifting the sanctions.
During the talks, Kim also sought Beijing’s support for the position that Washington should give Pyongyang concessions in a phased manner as the country was moving toward denuclearization, according to the sources.
The North Korea leader reportedly asked Xi to provide security guarantees to the country and help it resolve economic challenges should Washington not deliver on its promises.
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On June 22, White House announced that Trump had decided to prolong anti-North Korea sanctions by one more year as part of his "maximum pressure" policy toward the country. The initial sanctions were introduced in the wake of Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests following the punitive December 2017 UN Security Council Resolution restricting the country's fuel imports and other trade.
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