South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha meets with officials from an independent panel that will be in charge of mapping out the strategy on the foreign ministry’s diplomacy with the United Nations in Seoul on Jan. 19, 2018. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top diplomat said Friday Seoul is working closely with the international community to make sure North Korea’s PyeongChang Olympic participation does not run afoul of international sanctions imposed on the North.
“We are closely working with the United States and the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea so that there should be no controversy regarding the North’s PyeongChang Olympic participation running counter to international sanctions,” Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said during her interview with Yonhap News TV.
“The UNSC has its sanctions framework on North Korea’s nuclear and missile developments.”
North Korea has agreed to send a delegation to the first Winter Olympics in South Korea following last week’s inter-Korean talks.
Kang recently attended a foreign ministers’ meeting in Vancouver, Canada, where 20 nations gathered to address the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
She said the foreign ministers showed their support for inter-Korean dialogue and North Korea’s participation in the Olympics.
“The ministers agreed that sanctions and pressure will continue on North Korea as it keeps developing nuclear weapons and missiles,” she said. “We reaffirmed that the North Korean nuclear problem should be solved with peaceful and diplomatic ways and such pressure and sanctions are diplomatic tools to lead Pyongyang to denuclearization talks.”
(Yonhap)
