(LEAD) Kuwait decides to deport N.K. envoy, stops issuing visas for N. Koreans: VOA

(ATTN: RECASTS 4th para; ADDS photo, more info in last para)

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- Kuwait has decided to deport a senior North Korean diplomat and stopped issuing new visas for North Koreans, a U.S.-based media report said Saturday, citing its U.N. sanctions implementation report.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), Kuwait said it has decided to cut the number of North Korean diplomats in the country to four from the current nine, the Voice of America (VOA) reported. On the deportation list is Pyongyang's ambassador to Kuwait So Chang-sik.

The report did not mention when the five diplomats will be deported.

The move is in line with UNSC Resolution 2321 adopted last year to punish the North's fifth nuclear test. Kuwait will become the third country to send back a North Korean ambassador under a U.N. resolution following Mexico and Peru, the VOA report said.

Kuwait has also stopped the issuance of visas for North Korean nationals. North Koreans in the Middle East country will be told to leave it once their residential permits expire, according to the report.

Currently, some 6,000 North Koreans are believed to work in Kuwait.

On Monday, the UNSC adopted its ninth sanctions resolution against the North, this time in response to its sixth and most powerful nuke test on Sept. 3. Despite the fresh package of sanctions, Pyongyang staged yet another missile provocation on Friday.

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