At U.N., China delays U.S. bid to blacklist ships, companies over North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a grand military parade celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) February 9 2018. KCNA/via REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China delayed a U.S. request for a United Nations Security Council committee to blacklist 33 ships, 27 shipping companies, and a Taiwan man for violating international sanctions on North Korea, diplomats said on Friday.

The United States submitted the request a week ago, a move it says is "aimed at shutting down North Korea's illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal."