Seoul has begun consultations with the United States and others to secure a sanctions exemption needed to allow a joint survey on inter-Korean rail cooperation, a Ministry of Unification (MOU) official said on Thursday.

The comments, made during a closed-door briefing and confirmed separately to NK News, suggest the previously-delayed project will now go ahead, pending approval from the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea.

“With regard to the joint railway study, consultations are underway with the U.S., the United Nations and other relevant countries,” the official said, in comments carried by the Yonhap News Agency.

“The schedules [for the