N.Korea to send delegation for Winter Olympics closing ceremony

Seoul Feb 22 (IANS) North Korea on Thursday said it would send a high-level delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics closing ceremony the Unification Ministry confirmed here.

Kim Yong-chol head of the ruling party s United Front Department will lead the eight-member delegation for a three-day trip that will start on Sunday reports Yonhap News Agency.

The delegation also includes Ri Son-gwon the head of the North s agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

"The government thinks the delegation s dispatch will help improve inter-Korean relations and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula including the North s denuclearisation " the ministry said.

"In that sense Seoul will accept their visit."

North Korea sent a high-level delegation that includes its ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam and Kim Yo-jong the younger sister of the North s leader Kim Jong-un from February 9 to 11 to attend the Olympics opening ceremony.

Kim Yo-jong delivered her brother s letter to President Moon Jae-in which includes an invitation of the South s leader to Pyongyang at an early date.

A flurry of sports diplomacy between the two Koreas began after the North s leader expressed a willingness to send a delegation to the Games in his New Year s Day message.

But the inclusion of Kim Yong-chol in the delegation is likely to stir up a dispute as he is blacklisted under Seoul s unilateral sanctions.

Kim Yong-chol former chief of North Korea s reconnaissance bureau was also suspected of having orchestrated Pyongyang s two deadly attacks on the South in 2010 -- the sinking of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

--IANS
ksk