S. Korean skiers head to North by chartered plane

South Korean skiers and officials will leave for North Korea on Wednesday by chartered airplane to take part in the inter-Korean training session in the North’s Masikryong Ski Resort, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said.

Although the ministry initially said that the 45-strong South Korean delegation will leave from Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province at 10 a.m., the plane took off a about 10:43 a.m. The ministry did not elaborate on the causes of the delay.
The delegation is scheduled to land in Kalma Airport, in the North Korean side of Gangwon Province. 

“(The delegation) will take part in a two-day joint Korean training session. (The delegation) will return via air route on Feb. 1, accompanied by a North Korean delegation,” a Unification Ministry official said. The North Korean delegation that will visit the Southon Feb. 1 are alpine and cross country skiers and officials, the ministry said.

The official said that the trip has been arranged to ensure US sanctions against the regime are not violated, and that the arrangements were finalized in the early hours of Wednesday.

It has been reported that Seoul and Washington have been working on a way to bypass the measures that forbids any aircraft that visits North Korea is forbidden from entering the US for 180 days after the trip to North Korea.