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North Korea's Kim Yo-jong visits South in historic first at Winter Olympics US vice-president skips Olympics dinner in snub to North Korea officials
(about 4 hours later)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister has landed in the South, becoming the first member of Pyongyang’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the rival country since the Korean war. The US vice-president, Mike Pence, has skipped a dinner ahead of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony where he was expected to share a table with North Korea’s head of state, in a sign of Washington’s intention to snub officials from the North at the Games.
Kim Yo-jong is part of a high-level diplomatic delegation led by the North’s ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam – the highest level official ever to go to the South – as the Winter Olympics trigger a diplomatic rapprochement between the rivals. Pence briefly exchanged greetings with attendees at the dinner, including the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, but avoided Kim Yong-nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, who is the highest level official ever to go to the South.
Their white Ilyushin-62 jet – marked in Korean script “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the North’s official name, and its tailfin emblazoned with a Northern emblem – touched down at Incheon airport near Seoul. North Korea’s high-level diplomatic delegation, which arrived in the South on Friday, also includes Kim Jong-un’s sister. Kim Yo-jong, who became the first member of Pyongyang’s ruling dynasty to set foot in South Korea since the Korean war.
The last member of the Kim family to set foot in Seoul was Yo Jong’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, the North’s founder, after his forces invaded in 1950 and the capital fell. In another sign of the diplomatic rapprochement triggered by the Games, athletes from both sides of the border marched under one flag at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, and Moon with Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-nam – a scene that would have been unimaginable a month ago.
Three years later the conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided by the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone and the two sides technically in a state of war. Pence was also seated in the VIP section, just metres from the North Korean officials he had snubbed earlier. He went to another dinner with US athletes, according to South Korea’s presidential office.
Now the North is subject to multiple rounds of UN security council sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, while the democratic South has risen to become the world’s 11th-largest economy. Moon will formally meet the North Korean delegation on Saturday and Yo-jong may invite him to visit Pyongyang this year, according to a report by CNN.
Kim Yong-nam and Kim Yo-jong, both of them in dark coats with fur collars, were met by the South’s unification minister and other officials. Their white Ilyushin-62 jet – marked in Korean script “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the North’s official name, and its tailfin emblazoned with a North Korean emblem – had earlier touched down at Incheon airport near Seoul.
The last member of the Kim family to set foot in Seoul was Yo-jong’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, the North’s founder, after his forces invaded in 1950 and the capital fell.
Three years later, the conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided by the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone and the two sides technically in a state of war.
The North is subject to multiple rounds of UN security council sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, while the democratic South has risen to become the world’s 11th-largest economy.
Kim Yong-nam and Kim Yo-jong, both wearing dark coats with fur collars, were met by the South’s unification minister and other officials.
Their trip is the diplomatic high point of an Olympics-driven rapprochement between the two Koreas.Their trip is the diplomatic high point of an Olympics-driven rapprochement between the two Koreas.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pushed the Games as a “peace Olympics” that will open a door for dialogue to alleviate tensions on the peninsula and seek to persuade Pyongyang to give up its atomic ambitions. Moon has pushed the Games as a “peace Olympics” that will open a door for dialogue to alleviate tensions on the peninsula and seek to persuade Pyongyang to give up its atomic ambitions.
The delegation was due to take a high-speed train to Pyeongchang, where the Olympics opening ceremony would be held later Friday, and attended by the US vice-president, Mike Pence, and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe. But all eyes were on Kim Yo-jong – a key member of the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the impoverished, isolated nation with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult through three generations.
But all eyes are on Yo Jong – a key member of the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the impoverished, isolated nation with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult through three generations.