Seoul: A group of South Korean skiers flew to North Korea on Wednesday ahead of the Winter Olympics to train with their rivals, on a rare direct flight after Washington exempted it from sanctions.
It was the latest in a flurry of cross-border trips in the run-up to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which have seen a rare apparent rapprochement on the peninsula after months of high tensions over the North’s nuclear programme.
The 45-strong delegation, including 24 skiers — none of them slated to take part in the Games — travelled to the North’s Masikryong ski resort, a pet project of leader Kim Jong-Un. With few North Koreans able to ski on a regular basis, Masikryong is notable for its largely empty main slopes, and is sometimes visited by Western tourists with a taste for the unusual.
The South Korean group flew to Kalma airport in Wonsan on the North’s east coast on board a chartered Asiana Airlines plane.
The plane flew out to sea before heading north to avoid crossing the heavily fortified land border. The South Koreans are due to return by the same route on Thursday. — AFP
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