UN lifts up travel ban for North Koreans travelling for summit between Kim Jong Un- Donald Trump

United Nations, May 24: The United Nations Security Council committee on Wednesday approved the travel of North Korean officials to Singapore for a June 12 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and planning meetings.

 

Singapore last week asked the sanctions committee to grant an exemption to the North Korean delegation attending the June 12 summit and taking part in preparatory meetings.

“This summit will serve as an opportunity to advance the objective of a peaceful resolution of the DPRK nuclear issue and the establishment of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region,” wrote Singapore’s UN Ambassador Burhan Gafoor to the committee.

The letter did not specify the size of the delegation from Pyongyang. The UN sanctions blacklist for North Korea has 80 individuals and 75 entities which are subject to a global travel ban and an assets freeze. The request for the blanket exemption to the global travel plan was approved today after none of the council members raised objections.

Trump earlier said the fate of the summit will be decided next week as his aides traveled to Singapore to prepare the meeting and push for certain conditions to be met.

“There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. The Security Council has imposed tough sanctions on North Korea that ban trade in commodities and severely restrict deliveries of oil vital to Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programme.