South Korea says approved visit by sanctioned North Korean to pursue peace on peninsula

  • February 23, 2018

2018-02-23, Reuters

South Korea said it had approved the Winter Olympic visit by a sanctioned North Korean official, blamed for the 2010 sinking of a South Korean ship that killed 46 sailors, in the pursuit of peace and asked for public understanding.

Kim Yong Chol, vice-chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, will lead a high-level delegation at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on Sunday. The delegation will also meet President Moon Jae-in.

He was previously chief of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a top North Korean military intelligence agency, which South Korea blamed for the deadly 2010 sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean navy corvette.