The South Korean Foreign Ministry reiterated Thursday that it would cooperate closely with China in the faithful enforcement of the latest round of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea. 
According to South Korean Yonhap news agency, the ministry's remarks came a day after Beijing's official data showed that trade volume between China and the North posted double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2016 from a year earlier despite the international sanctions adopted to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February. 
"As the UNSC sanctions resolution was adopted in early March and the enforcement takes various procedures and steps, it is reasonable that we should still watch the implementation process of the sanctions," ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said during a press briefing. 
"We will continue to consult with the Chinese government to conscientiously enforce the UNSC sanctions through close (bilateral) cooperation." According to China's General Administration of Customs, the size of trade between the North and China stood at 7.79 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in the January-March period, up 12.7 percent from the same period last year.

Source: QNA