The North Korean ask for sanctions relief as a "corresponding measure" for closing Yongbyon should have surprised no one. A short thread.

After the Singapore Summit, the PRC MOFA indicated that @UN Security Council-imposed sanctions should be adjusted.
fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_6…

Official Chinese statements can be a bit elliptical, but the meaning was clear enough after the US tried to strengthen sanctions enforcement after Singapore. China and Russia said no, making it clear that North Korea should be rewarded.
nytimes.com/2018/07/19/wor…

After Singapore, North Korean state media released multiple articles explaining that North Korea now deserved to have sanctions removed. This statements were very specific. Here are just three of many examples, from the August time period.

Then China and Russia made another run at sanctions relief at the UN this past fall. China, Russia and North Korea even released a trilateral statement in October calling for sanctions relief now.
mid.ru/ru/foreign_pol…