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SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has approved the trip by a sanctioned senior North Korean official to South Korea to attend the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
On Wednesday, the North informed the South that Choe Hwi, the chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, will be included in its high-level delegation for the Olympics, which will kick off Thursday. He has been on the U.N. sanctions blacklist since June 2017.
AP reported, "The U.N. committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea granted an exemption," citing Ambassador Karel Van Oosterom of the Netherlands, who chairs the Security Council committee.
The ambassador was quoted as saying that its members approved the exemption for Choe "following due consideration.''
It has not been independently confirmed by Yonhap News Agency. Seoul's foreign ministry said that it is currently working to confirm the report.
South Korea has been in consultations with the UNSC on the issue of allowing the blacklisted North Korean official to travel south since he was known to be part of the delegation.
Earlier, in a written interview with Yonhap, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said exemptions to U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea would be possible if they help further the resolutions' intended objective.
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