North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s sister will join the rogue nation’s delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics — which President Trump’s daughter Ivanka is also set to attend.
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 said 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 US.
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.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Kim Yo Jong will meet with Moon, a liberal who has expressed a desire to reach out to the North.
While South Korea prepared to welcome Kim Yo Jong, Vice President Pence said in Japan that the US will soon 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 US efforts to use the Olympics to highlight the North’s brutal human rights record.
Kim Jong Un might also have seen that Trump was sending Ivanka, to the opening ceremony and decided to match the move by sending his sister, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.
“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.
It’s unclear whether any member of the North Korean government delegation will hold talks with US officials during the Olympics.
Pence did not rule out a possible meeting with North Korean officials, telling reporters, “we’ll see what happens.”
Hong said Kim Yo Jong’s presence would give North Korea a better opportunity to win South Korean help in reaching out to the US.
“With Kim Yo Jong, you are getting a person who’s chiefly involved in designing Kim Jong Un’s rule, a person whom the leader actually listens to.”
With Post Wires