Winter Olympics: N.Korean delegation in S.Korea to attend closing ceremony

Seoul Feb 25 (IANS) A high-level North Korean delegation led by a top official accused of having masterminded the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship arrived in the South on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Kim Yong-chol a key party official handling inter-Korean affairs arrived at a checkpoint in Paju south of the inter-Korean border via a land route at 9.53 a.m. heading the eight-member delegation for a three-day trip to South Korea reports Yonhap News Agency.

The 72-year-old Kim is at the centre of a controversy as he is suspected of having orchestrated the North s torpedoing of the corvette Cheonan in March 2010. The naval attack left 46 South Korean sailors dead.

Conservative lawmakers and families of the victims of the sinking held a rally to block his trip to the South on the route to the customs immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office in Paju.

The South Korean government said it has accepted Kim s trip despite negative public sentiment as it believes that the trip will help improve inter-Korean ties and pave the way for dialogue toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The opening ceremony of the Games on February 9 was attended a another high-level North Korean delegation that included its ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam and Kim Yo-jong the younger sister of the leader Kim Jong-un.

--IANS
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