North Korea’s head of state will go to Pyeongchang this week for the Winter Olympics, the most senior official to ever visit South Korea.<\/p>\n
North Korea confirmed Kim Yong-nam’s attendance at the opening ceremony, set for Friday.<\/p>\n
Both Koreas will march under one flag at the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n
Although this signals a thaw in relations between the Koreas, experts say it unlikely to have any impact on the North’s nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n
Mr Kim will be in the South for a three-day visit and will lead a 22-member delegation.<\/p>\n
Who is Kim Yong-nam?<\/strong><\/p>\n The 90-year-old Kim Yong-nam has seen the rule of all three North Korean leaders in his career.<\/p>\n He is the ceremonial head of state who receives credentials from foreign diplomats in Pyongyang. As such, he is usually responsible for sending condolences or congratulatory messages to foreign leaders.<\/p>\n He has been the president of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, since 1998.<\/p>\n Unlike the current leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yong-nam has travelled abroad on official visits. In August 2017, he travelled to Iran to attend President Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration ceremony for his second term in office.<\/p>\n He also attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.<\/p>\n Mr Kim is said to be a loyal follower of the top leadership. “As Kim is known to be acting and speaking under the country’s guidance, he makes no mistakes. That’s why he could keep his high-level post in a country where political purges are common,” South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted one North Korean defector as saying.<\/p>\n What is the significance of his visit?<\/strong><\/p>\n An unnamed official from the South’s presidential Blue House told the BBC that they believed Mr Kim’s visit reflected a willingness on the part of North Korea to improve inter-Korean relations, and demonstrated the North’s sincerity.<\/p>\n Seoul has said it will seek high-level talks with the North Korean delegation during the visit, Yonhap reported.<\/p>\n Mr Kim’s attendance at the opening ceremony will also put him in the company of US Vice President Mike Pence, at a point of high tension with Washington over the North’s nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n