The UN Security Council(UNSC) is expected to decide by 5 a.m. Friday, Korea time, whether or not to exempt a blacklisted North Korean official from its sanctions so that he can visit the South for the Winter Olympics as part of a high-ranking North Korean delegation. 

The Associated Press(AP) quoted Ambassador Karel Van Oosterom of the Netherlands, who chairs the UNSC Sanctions Committee on North Korea, as saying that she sent out letters to UNSC members, asking them to grant the exemption for Choe Hwi who is the chairman of the North's National Sports Guidance Committee. 

If none of the 15 members oppose by five a.m. Friday, the exemption will be automatically granted to Choe.

The South Korean mission to the UN on Wednesday submitted a formal request to the UNSC Sanctions Committee on North Korea, asking for a temporary suspension or exemption for Choe's trip to the South.  

North Korea had informed Seoul on Wednesday that it would send a high-level delegation to the games, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong, Choe Hwi and Ri Son-gwon, the head of the North's state agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.