Asahi claimed that more than 500 North Koreans have entered China as manual laborers following the historic summit between President Xi and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing in late March, noting that although the Chinese government is on the surface maintaining a policy of complying with UN Security resolutions prohibiting UN member states from receiving new Korean laborers, local authorities appears to be relaxing border controls to allow the entry of workers from the neighboring country. While speculating that the Chinese may be effectively condoning the reentry of DPRK laborers in exchange for Kim’s aggressive diplomatic outreach, the daily wrote that this may constitute a loophole in the international community’s sanctions against the defiant regime. According to the daily, Chinese companies near the border with North Korea have been suffering acute labor shortages following the adoption of the UN resolution in question last September.