{"id":398320,"date":"2018-02-05T06:39:38","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T06:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=398320"},"modified":"2018-02-05T06:39:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T06:39:38","slug":"north-korea-send-highest-level-official-ever-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/02\/north-korea-send-highest-level-official-ever-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea to send highest level official ever to South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In another development on Sunday, the Washington Post reported that\u00a0Fred Warmbier, whose son Otto Warmbier was jailed by North Korea and died days after returning to the US, would attend the opening ceremony as a guest of Mr Pence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Warmbier and his wife, Cindy, were guests of US President Donald Trump at last week’s State of the Union address.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. North Korea confirmed Kim Yong-nam’s attendance at the opening ceremony, set for Friday. Both Koreas will march under one flag at the opening ceremony. Although this signals a thaw in relations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":398321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[160,4844],"yoast_head":"\nNorth Korea to send highest level official ever to South Korea - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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