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The Asiana Airlines flight transporting the South Korean ski team to Masikryong Ski Resort in Wonsan

Skiers from South and North Korea plied the slopes together at the Masikryong Ski Resort in Wonsan, located in the North Korean half of Gangwon Province. The two-day joint training program for South and North Korean skiers on Jan. 31 proceeded without any issues, easing concerns prompted by the cancellation of a joint cultural event at Mt. Kumgang.

It was during the same vice minister-level talks on Jan. 17 that South and North Korea agreed to hold both the Masikryong joint training program and the Mt. Kumgang cultural event to celebrate the hosting of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. According to this agreement, a South Korean advance team arrived in the North on Jan. 23 and reviewed facilities at Mount Kumgang, the Masikryong Ski Resort and Kalma International Airport during a three-day visit.

Since it took three or four hours to travel on the East Sea overland route to the Masikryong Ski Resort via Mount Kumgang, the South Korean advance team concluded that it would be better to travel by air. When they arrived at Kalma International Airport, they found its equipment, safety measures and facilities such as the runway, taxiway and terminal to be in acceptable condition. As a result, the government began working to arrange a flight, finally settling on a chartered flight from Asiana, a South Korean airline.

Members of the South Korean ski team check their equipment prior to boarding their flight bound for North Korea at the Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province on Jan. 31. (Yonhap News)

South and North Korea reportedly had no serious disagreements about traveling to the North on a plane and holding two days of training, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1. However, it was difficult to make the practical arrangements for the visit, including air traffic control, on such a tight schedule. The last-minute preparations continued until late on Jan. 30, the day before the visit, with the two sides keeping their communication channel at Panmunejom open until after midnight.

The US’s independent sanctions against North Korea were another obstacle that had to be cleared. It was necessary to carry out preliminary deliberations with the US because of a provision that bans airliners that stop in North Korea from landing in the US for 180 days. In addition to the lack of time, there were reportedly practical difficulties that lasted through the weekend. It was not until the morning of Jan. 31, the day of the departure, that the Americans finally announced that they would consider the trip an exception to the North Korean sanctions.

“Even though we gave urgent notice shortly before the event, the US carried out their internal review in a prompt fashion. It all happened with unprecedented speed,” said a senior official with South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The final decision was delayed because we wanted to make absolutely certain that the fact this is a civilian aircraft would not present any problems,” the official added.

“Because the US’s sanctions against North Korea overlap, a thorough interpretation could take several months. Since this could have been declared a violation of sanctions down the road, the US made a definite exception for us,” another official explained.

By Jung In-hwan and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters

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