Exclusive: U.N. lifts North Korea sanctions on four ships at China's request

By Michelle Nichols, Louis Charbonneau and James Pearson UNITED NATIONS/SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council agreed on Monday to a Chinese request to remove sanctions on four ships the United Nations had blacklisted for ties to Pyongyang's arms trade. The agreement came after China secured assurances the vessels would not use North Korean crews, a U.S. official said. China asked the United States on March 16 for help removing the ships from the U.N. blacklist, according to a diplomatic ca