SEOUL • North Korea’s ceremonial leader will make an unprecedented visit to South Korea this week, as hopes grow for high-level inter-Korean talks during the Winter Olympics that begin on Friday..
SEOUL • North Korea’s ceremonial leader will make an unprecedented visit to South Korea this week, as hopes grow for high-level inter-Korean talks during the Winter Olympics that begin on Friday.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency confirmed yesterday that Mr Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, would attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday in South Korea’s alpine resort town of Pyeongchang.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Sunday that Mr Kim would lead a 22-strong delegation that was expected to arrive in South Korea on Friday for a three-day trip.
Mr 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 United States.
Tensions spiralled last year as North Korea carried out multiple weapon tests, including intercontinental ballistic missiles which it says are capable of reaching the mainland US, as well as its most powerful nuclear blast to date.
The South’s presidential Blue House in Seoul said the visit by Mr Kim, the most senior North Korean official to cross the border into the South since the Korean War ended with a truce in 1953, would create « various opportunities » for high-level talks.
« (Mr 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 told a news briefing yesterday.
