1ST LEAD UN to decide on Olympics travel ban exemption for N Korea delegate By Helen Corbett, dpa
New York (dpa) - The UN Security Council will decide Thursday whether to exempt a North Korean official from its sanctions list so he can travel with Kim Jong Un‘s sister to the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Host South Korea requested a temporary exemption for Choe Hwi, chair of the National Sports Guidance Committee, to travel to Pyeongchang with the North Korean delegation, UN Security Council diplomats confirmed. If no objections are raised by Security Council members by the Thursday afternoon deadline, the exemption will be granted. Choe, who was the first vice director of North Korea‘s propaganda and agitation department when he was listed on the UN Security Council‘s sanctions list in June 2017, will travel alongside North Korean leader Kim‘s sister, Kim Yo Jong.The sister now holds Choe‘s previous title.Kim Yo Jong and Choe are among the 22 members of North Korea‘s high-level delegation to the Olympics. Kim Yong Nam, Pyongyang‘s ceremonial head of state, and Ri Son Gwon, the head of the agency for inter-Korean affairs, will also join the delegation. The representatives will be in the South for three days starting Friday, overlapping with the US delegation led by US Vice President Mike Pence. Pence has indicated his openness to a meeting with the North Koreans, but a senior Foreign Ministry official from Pyongyang said on Thursday there was no willingness from the North Korean side to meet with the United States.US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington and Seoul are "closely coordinating and having conversations about all of this," referring to attempts to obtain the waiver for Choe, but added that the US is not involved in the process of getting it at the UN.