Kim’s sister to attend Olympics

Analysts say her visit shows wish to soften image

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, an increasingly prominent figure in the country’s leadership, will be part of the North’s delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics, officials said Wednesday.

Kim Yo Jong, believed to be around 30, will be the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Analysts say her inclusion in the Olympic delegation shows North Korea’s ambition to use the Olympics to break out from diplomatic isolation by improving relations with the South, which it could use as a bridge for approaching the United States.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office welcomed North Korea’s decision, saying it showed the North’s willingness to cooperate in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

While South Korea prepared to welcome Kim Yo Jong, Vice President Mike Pence said in Japan that the U.S. is preparing to announce the “toughest and most aggressive” economic sanctions against North Korea, boosting pressure on its government during the Olympics.

Experts said by sending a youthful, photogenic person who will undoubtedly attract international attention during the games, North Korea is trying to construct a fresher and warmer public image and defuse potential U.S. efforts to use the Olympics to highlight the North’s brutal human rights record.

Kim Jong Un might also have seen that U.S. President Donald Trump was sending his daughter, Ivanka, to the Olympics closing ceremony and decided to match the move by sending his sister, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.

By sending a relative, “Kim Jong Un may be trying to present himself as an equal to Donald Trump,” Hong said.

Kim Yo Jong will be part of a North Korean delegation led by the country’s nominal head of state, Kim

Yong Nam.

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University, said Kim Yo Jong, as Kim Jong Un’s relative and apparently one of the few people who has earned his absolute trust, carries more weight as a dialogue partner for the South than any other official the North could send.