South Korea won an exemption from United States sanctions Wednesday to fly its athletes on a chartered passenger jet so the two Koreas could conduct joint ski training in North Korea, according to the foreign ministry.

Earlier in the day, a chartered Asiana Airlines flight left for an airfield near North Korea's Masikryong Ski Resort carrying dozens of Korean skiers and government officials for a two-day joint training with North Korean athletes. It was one of the two countries' reconciliatory gestures to celebrate the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The departure was approved only one hour ahead of the flight's takeoff, however, as South Korea and the US held last-minute discussions on the legality of the trip. Current US sanctions on North Korea prohibit airplanes from landing on American territories within 180 days of taking off from North Korea.

"(South Korea) smoothly carried out the process with the US Treasury to get an exemption from US sanctions so that our company is not affected by US sanctions with regard to the airplane used for our delegation to North Korea," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

"The government is closely discussing with the US issues pertaining to North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Olympics under the stance of hosting the Olympics successfully in compliance with sanctions against North Korea," the ministry added.(Yonhap)