Top North Korean official to visit South
> Hopes grow for high-level talks during Winter Olympics
SEOUL: North Korea’s ceremonial leader will make an unprecedented visit to South Korea this week, officials said yesterday, as hopes grow for high-level inter-Korean talks during the Winter Olympics that begin in three days.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency confirmed yesterday that Kim Yong Nam ( pix), president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, would attend the Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.
Seoul’s unification ministry said on Sunday Kim would lead a 22-strong delegation that was expected to arrive in South Korea on Friday for a three-day trip.
Kim’s visit comes as Seoul pins its hopes on high-level talks during the Feb 9 to 25 Games between not only the two Koreas but also the North and the US.
The South’s presidential Blue House said the visit by Kim, the most senior North Korean official to cross the border since the Korean War ended with a truce in 1953, would create “various opportunities” for talks.
“(Kim’s visit) shows North Korea’s resolve for improved inter-Korean relations and the success of the Olympics, as well as its sincere, earnest attitude,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said yesterday.
US Vice-President Mike Pence and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also attend the Olympics’ opening ceremony.
South Korea President Moon Jae-in told Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday that the momentum of improved NorthSouth relations would continue and Pence’s visit would be an “important prelude for that”, according to the Blue House.
The US president said during a meeting with North Korean defectors on Friday that, despite a “very tricky situation”, North Korea’s participation in the Olympics could result in “something good”.
However, a White House official has said Pence planned to use his attendance to counter what he sees as Pyongyang’s efforts to “hijack” the Olympics with a propaganda campaign.
A North Korean art troupe would also likely travel by ship to perform during the Olympics under an exemption from bilateral sanctions, the unification ministry said yesterday.
It said the North proposed on Sunday that the art troupe use a ferry for transport and lodging.
South Korea banned all North Korean ships from entering its ports in May 2010 after a torpedo attack by the North on a navy ship that killed 46 sailors.
The ministry said no final decision had been made but it was in consultation with Washington and others to temporarily lift the ban to facilitate the proposal. – Reuters