Winter Olympics: UN lifts ban on North Korean official

Pyeongchang, February 8: The United Nations (UN) has given permission to allow a sanctioned North Korean official to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Friday (February 9).

North Korean arrival sparks protests in South Korea

The UN Security Council had imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, on June 2, 2017, when he was vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, which controls ideological messaging through the media, arts and culture.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister Kim Yo Jong now holds that position.

Kim was also blacklisted last year by the US Treasury Department over human rights abuses and censorship.

However, in a latest sign of the warring neighbours burying the hatchet for the sake of Olympic Movement, sanctions on Choe has been lifted as he has been granted permission to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Games with Kim.

Accoring to insiders, South Korean Charge d'affaires Ham Sang Wook asked the UN Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee for an exemption to allow Choe to travel with the rest of the delegation.

He said its participation "will serve as a timely opportunity to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula and beyond."

Ambassador Karel Van Oosterom of the Netherlands, who chairs the Security Council committee, said that members approved an exemption for Choe.

While Choe is the only member of the North Korean delegation blacklisted by the Security Council, South Korea asked the sanctions committee for broad approval to host the entire high-level delegation from Pyongyang between February 9 and 11.

However, North Korea is in no mood for diplomatic relations as it has turned down an offer to meet any US officials during the Pyeongchang Games.

Concerns over North Korea have overshadowed the Winter Games, which Seoul and the organisers have proclaimed a "peace Olympics", urging Pyongyang to participate, unlike the 1988 Summer Olympics in the South, which it boycotted.

(With inputs from Agencies).