A North Korean performance to celebrate the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Photo: VNA)

South Korea on Wednesday presented a request to the Council's sanctions committee for an exemption to the travel ban imposed on Choe Hwi, chairman of North Korea's National Sports Guidance Committee.

In a letter to the committee, South Korea said “the visit will serve as a timely opportunity to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula and beyond by promoting an environment conducive to a peaceful, diplomatic, and political solution concerning the situation on the peninsula.”

A North Korean art troupe staged a rare performance in front of hundreds of South Koreans on Thursday to celebrate the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.