Dandong is China's largest border city with North Korea. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 31 (UPI) -- China could be preparing to provide food aid to North Korea as it seeks sanctions exemptions on behalf of Pyongyang at the United Nations Security Council.

Authorities in China have issued an advance notice, stating commercial trains will not be allowed into the freight terminal at Dandong, the Chinese border city facing North Korea, Radio Free Asia reported.


A source based in Dandong told RFA the terminal will not handle any commercial cargo from Friday to the end of February, according to the report.

"It is very unusual that the Dandong Station freight train terminal suddenly stops handling [commercial] cargo," the source said. "There is definitely a reason for this."

The source added among Dandong's trade authorities there is speculation a "large amount of food aid" could change hands in the coming weeks. The Chinese aid could include corn, flour and soybean oil, the source said.

The source also said the freight is expected to travel from a grain depot in China to Pyongyang's Sopo station.

North Korean freight trains run regularly between the two countries. According to RFA, the trains operate three times a day.

The suspension of regular operations on the railroad is causing inconveniences for repatriating North Koreans, however.

A second RFA source in Dandong said North Koreans in China ordered to return home face moving delays owing to the ban.

North Korean workers in China and Russia have been ordered to return home in compliance with a United Nations Security Council sanctions resolution adopted in 2017.

On Monday China and Russia discussed a draft resolution proposing easing sanctions at the Security Council, but other council members, including the United States, objected to the proposal, Yonhap reported Tuesday.

The closed-door meeting ended in disagreement, a U.N.-based source told the South Korean news agency.

On Tuesday the Chinese foreign ministry said it is "in discussions" with relevant states on the draft resolution.