President Kim Jong-un’s Sister in South Korea, Making History

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister has arrived in South Korea on a three-day visit, becoming the first member of her family to visit the South in more than 60 years amid a rapprochement.

As part of a high-level delegation attending the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, Kim Yo-jong arrived on her brother’s private jet in the country on Friday.

according to Press TV, she was received by a group of South Korean officials, including Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, at a meeting room at the Incheon International Airport.

 Kim Yo-jong, 30, and her country’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, who has also traveled to South, are due to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who sees the Winter Olympics as an opportunity to revive diplomatic ties with Pyongyang. They will meet in a luncheon at Seoul’s presidential palace on Saturday.

South Korean media have been speculating about whether the North’s leader will send a personal message to Moon through his sister, who is believed to be one of Kim’s closest confidantes.

North and South Koreas have been separated by a heavily-militarized border since the three-year Korean War came to an end in 1953.

Since he came to power in May last year, Moon has been pushing for greater dialog between the two countries. His efforts received a boost when Kim Jong-un called for improved ties in his New Year’s Day speech. Kim also expressed willingness to send athletes to the Pyeongchang Games.

Along with the North Korean delegation that arrived on Friday, a delegation of US officials led by Vice President Mike Pence will also attend the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday.

US threats

Speaking in Japan on Wednesday, Pence had said the US was about to impose the “toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever.”

Pence also said the US “has deployed some of our most advanced military assets to Japan and the wider region to protect our homeland and our allies. And we will continue to.”

Observers believe the US, sidelined amid the inter-Korean rapprochement, is attempting to sabotage it with the imposition of harsher sanctions against the North.

H.M