North Korea To Send Powerhouse Delegation to PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony
If the United States is sending presidential daughter Ivanka Trump to PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, the North Korean has an equally high-profile delegation. The Seoul's Ministry of Unification has confirmed that the North will be sending a high-level delegation to the Olympics' closing ceremony to be held Sunday.
The MOU announced that they already accepted the offer of NK to send a delegation to the closing ceremony even with Kim Yong Chol's presence. Kim Yong-Chol, one the upper executives in North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's echelon, will be leading the eight-member delegation of North Korea.
Kim is currently the head of national intelligence of the hermit kingdom. He is also the vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. He and his group will be staying in South Korea for three days. Kim was blacklisted by the South Korean government in March 2016 for supporting the North's nuclear and missile programs. The South also previously named Kim as one of the masterminds of the sinking of a South Korean warship, Cheonan, in 2010 that killed 46 sailors.
MOU said in a statement (via Korea Herald) that the acceptance of the North Korean high-level delegation to the PyeongChang 2018 will help advance peace on the Korean Peninsula and the improvement of inter-Korean relations and denuclearization. The two Koreas agreed last month to have their athletes march together under a single flag in the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. They also joined forces and formed a unified women's ice hockey team for the games.
The US Delegation
The North Korea's notice to Seoul about a high-level delegation attendance on the closing ceremony of Olympics came few hours after the White House said the Trump administration will be sending Ivanka Trump to the closing ceremony on Sunday. The young Trump serves as an adviser to his father U.S. President Donald Trump. She is expected to arrive in Seoul on Friday.
The White House also announced that Trump is set to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday night. Reports indicated that there is no scheduled meeting between Ivanka and any NK officials. However, it can be noted that Ivanka will be staying in the South for four days. This fueled speculation of a possible meeting of the U.S. and North Korean officials.
Kim Jong-un's younger sister Kim Yo-jong earlier attended the Olympics' opening ceremony. She met with South Korea President Moon Jae-in and delivered a letter from his brother. The letter includes an invitation for Moon to visit Pyongyang anytime soon. As for the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence led the American delegation to the Olympics opening ceremony. However, no meeting between Pence and Kim Yo-jong has transpired.