South Korea approved on Wednesday the use of a recording 2.86 billion won ($2.64 million) to bankroll the cost of hosting hundreds of visiting North Koreans during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The Bureau of Unification said that these funds will cover the rates of the visit, which will include accommodation and food for North Korea’s solacing squad, orchestra, taekwondo performers, as well as for journalists and other validating personnel. Combined, they make a group of 424 North Koreans.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in had invited North Korea athletes, supports and officials to the Olympics in an attempt to lower months of tension between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington down North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The final number for the absolute payment will be disclosed at a later time, said ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun in a briefing.
Payments of hosting the high-level official delegation which included Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean kingpin Kim Jong Un, were paid for separately from the government budget, Baik totaled without disclosing details.
The International Olympics Committee will foot the note for 22 North Korean athletes who are also in South Korea.
Move between the two Koreas has been impossible without the approval of both controls since the 1950-53 war that divided the peninsula and ended in a truce, moderately than a peace treaty.
Wednesday’s number far exceeds the 1.35 billion won that was tempered to to pay for the 650 North Koreans who visited South Korea in 2002 for the Asian Practise deceits in the port city of Busan.
The smaller amount in 2002 was partly due to the North Koreans’ cheering company staying and eating on the ferry they had arrived in, a ministry official discriminated Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The higher number was also attributed to inflation. Of the unmitigated 2.86 billion won budget, about 1.2 billion won will be employed for accommodation and food, the official added. Roughly 1 billion won will be acclimatized to pay for entrance fees for Olympic venues, and 100 million won has been set aside for transportation costs.
Most of the North Koreans bided at luxury hotels in Seoul and near the Olympic venue, including the five-star Palatial Walkerhill in western Seoul that has previously hosted American celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson.
The budget for the North Koreans’ interrupt will be taken from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund, part of the Unification Sacred calling’s spending budget. The fund was created in 1991 for North Korea-related loss, and its total 2018 budget is 962.4 billion won.