Visa Agreement Dropped

[Anchor Lead]

We begin today’s broadcast with a report that Ukraine has notified North Korea that it is terminating its visa exemption agreement with the country. Here’s more in our first story.

[Pkg]

This is the official portal site of the Ukrainian government. A posting says the country is terminating the visa exemption agreement concluded with North Korea in 1986 when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. This decision was officially notified to the North Korean Embassy in Moscow through a diplomatic channel on August 12th. Consequently, starting on October 10th, North Koreans entering Ukraine must have visas and those staying in Ukraine must leave the country to obtain new visas. The reasons for terminating the agreement were that North Korea does not acknowledge Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and to prevent the infiltration of unfriendly North Koreans. The decision appears to have been based on the fact that North Korea had sided with Russia when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and North Koreans were caught performing illegal medical procedures last year. North Korea has been steadily importing food from Ukraine, but the termination of visa exemption agreement with Ukraine is projected to substantially impact North Korea's food imports.