Kim Jong-un's sister to visit S.Korea

North Korea has offered to send the younger sister of leader Kim Jong-un as a member of its high-level delegation for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics slated to begin from Friday, Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

The North informed the South that Kim Yo-jong, the first vice director of the ruling party's propaganda and agitation department, will be included in the high-level delegation led by ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam, reports Yonhap News Agency.

It would mark the first time that a member of the Kim family comes to the South.

The two other officials are Choe Hwi, the chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, and Ri Son-gwon, the head of the North's state agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

 

The North earlier proposed sending a 22-member delegation including three ranking officials and 18 support staffers to South Korea for a three-day trip starting Friday.

"The government views the composition of the delegation -- party, government and sports officials -- as meaningful, given that their trip is aimed at celebrating the opening ceremony of the Winter Games," the ministry said.

It said that Kim Yo-jong was apparently included because foreign leaders' families are customarily sent to deliver congratulations on the games.

The two Koreas have engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy since Kim Jong-un extended a rare olive branch to Seoul in his New Year's message, after years of tensions sparked by the North's nuclear and missile provocations.

--IANS

ksk/sac