A delegation of high-ranking North Koreans has arrived in South Korea to attend the closing
ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
They'll likely be meeting with President Moon Jae-in as well.
But their presence is controversial -- the leader of the delegation, General Kim Yong-chol,
is suspected of having orchestrated two deadly attacks on South Korea in the past.
Our Ji Myung-kil has more.
North Korea's eight-member high-level delegation entered South Korea Sunday morning for a three-day
trip... led by General Kim Yong-chol.
They'll attend the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics tonight.
Kim is a key official in the North's ruling party in charge of handling inter-Korean affairs
who's stirred controversy with his links to multiple attacks on South Korea.
During his time as military intelligence chief... he is accused of masterminding two attacks
on South Korea,... the first being the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010,
in which 46 sailors were killed,... and the second, the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong
Island in 2010, which killed two civilians and two marines.
His inclusion in the delegation has caused outrage in some quarters.
However, Seoul's unification ministry said responsibility for the Cheonan incident cannot
be definitively laid on Kim... despite the fact that he led the North's spy agency at
the time.
Conservative groups including lawmakers from the conservative Liberty Korea Party have
held protests on the southern side of the Tongil bridge in Paju... just south of the
border and at the inter-Korean checkpoint.
Still, the South Korean government has welcomed his visit amid improving inter-Korean relations
and hopes for an Olympics-inspired detente.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to meet the delegation during their visit,
but talks between General Kim and U.S. representatives are highly unlikely.
The White House said First Daughter Ivanka Trump has no plans to interact with North
Korean officials.
North Korea's decision to send Kim to PyeongChang came hours after the White House announced
that it would send President Trump's daughter.
Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.
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