N. Korea to ban all non-essential foreign aid

Reuters A top North Korean diplomat on Thursday banned all nonessential foreign assistance for U.N. peacekeepers, diplomats and aid workers in North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The U.S. has agreed to lift a ban on its North Korean ally and former U.K. colony in exchange for sanctions relief, a U.NS. spokesman said on Thursday.

The U.A.E. and the U. S. have also agreed to return all diplomatic assets to the North.

A U.n. peacekeeping mission to North Korea has been operating for nearly 20 years.

North Korea accuses the U, its sole ally, of carrying out the U