Kim’s sister to meet South Korean leader in high-level sit-down

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA— In the highestlevel contact between the two Koreas in years, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea plans to meet Saturday with the sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, and the North’s nominal head of state, officials said Thursday.

Moon’s luncheon meeting with the North Koreans was announced Thursday, as U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence arrived in South Korea carrying a message from Washington: not to waver from strong sanc- tions against North Korea.

The high-level North Korean delegation, headed by Kim Yong Nam, the North’s ceremonial head of state, will arrive in South Korea on Friday on a special plane to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics later in the day.

The trip’s significance was underscored by the revelation Wednesday that the delegation would include Kim Yo Jong, the only sister and a trusted aide of Kim Jong Un, the North’s supreme leader.

In North Korea’s dynastic system, which upholds the Kim family’s “bloodline” as a sacred leadership qualification, Kim Yo Jong wields a singular clout that cannot be matched by any non-relative members of the elite, regardless of their official titles, according to North Korea analysts.

Kim Yo Jong would be the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South since the 1950-53 Korean War. The New York Times