North Korea to Send Head of State to South During Winter Olympics

North Korea is to send its highest ranking official to the South amid an easing of tensions during the Winter Olympics, a statement by South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.

Kim Yong-nam, the ceremonial head of state of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), will lead a 22-member delegation to the South beginning on February 9, said South Korea’s Unification Ministry. The delegation will consist of three other officials and 18 support staff, the Ministry said.

It, however, did not say whether he would attend Friday's opening ceremony alongside US Vice President Mike Pence in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where the Winter Olympic Games is slated to be held from February 9 to 25.

Kim Yong-nam, 90, has been the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly – the Parliament in DPRK – for years and will be the highest-level official to visit South Korea in four years.

In January, the two Koreas – which have technically been at war for 65 years – signed a historic agreement paving the way for athletes from the North to be able to compete in the games.

Athletes from the North and the South will march under the Korean Unification Flag during the inaugural procession of the Olympics.

Besides athletes, North Korea has also agreed to send a cheering squad and an art troupe to the Winter Olympics.

The united Korean women's ice hockey team played its first match on Sunday, but lost the friendly against Sweden 1-3. Sunday's outing was the first and only practice match for the newly minted Korean squad.

South Korea welcomes planned visit by Kim Yong-nam

South Korean authorities welcomed DPRK’s plan to send its ceremonial head of state to the Winter Olympic Games, saying it shows Pyongyang's sincere efforts to improve inter-Korean ties.

"We believe it reflects North Korea's determination to improve the South Korea-North Korea relationship and make the Olympic Games successful and that the North has shown sincere and earnest efforts toward such an end," Cheong Wa Dae (presidential office) spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a press briefing.

South Korea will strive to hold high-level inter-Korean talks during the DPRK government delegation’s visit, the Unification Ministry said.

"The government hopes that the upcoming visit by the high-level North Korean delegation will become a milestone in hosting an Olympics of peace, restoring inter-Korean relations and building peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Baik Tae-hyun, a ministry spokesman, told a press briefing.

The spokesman added the government will provide the necessary convenience and safety during their stay here.

The South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has said President Moon Jae-in is considering a one-on-one meeting with Kim.

Pyongyang also notified Seoul of its plan to send the 140-member Samjiyon orchestra on Tuesday.

The Samjiyon orchestra will hold two concerts -- one in Gangneung, an eastern city near PyeongChang, on Thursday and the other in Seoul on Sunday.

“The passenger ferry Mangyongbong-92, carrying the DPRK's performing squad, was set to arrive at the Mukho Port in South Korea's eastern coast at around 5 p.m. local time (0800 GMT) on Tuesday,” said a Xinhua report.

‘US trying to undermine reconciliation process’

Earlier last week, Ri Yong Ho, Foreign Minister of North Korea, accused the US of undermining the inter-Korean reconciliation process and aggravating the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, Ri said "good results are borne in the inter-Korean dialogue" and the easing of tension on the Korean peninsula was welcomed by the international society, Xinhua reported citing Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The US authorities, however, are "seeking to intentionally aggravate the situation by introducing strategic assets including nuclear powered aircraft carrier strike groups into the vicinity of the Korean peninsula at a time when north and south of Korea are charting a course of peace together," Ri said.

The US has openly stated that it will conduct a large-scale aggressive joint military exercise against North Korea immediately after the Winter Olympic Games, he pointed out.