Mastermind of attacks on the South to head North Korean delegation to Olympic closing ceremony

Pyongyang has announced that a hawkish general who is widely considered to have orchestrated a number of attacks on South Korea will lead the North Korean delegation to the closing ceremony of the Pyeonchang Winter Olympic Games on Sunday. General Kim Yong-chol presently serves as head of the Workers’ Party United Front Department but previously oversaw the regime’s shadowy Reconnaissance Bureau, the clandestine intelligence agency. South Korean intelligence believes Gen Kim masterminded the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan off the west coast of the peninsula in March 2010, with the loss of 46 crew. Eight months later, North Korean artillery bombarded the island of Yeonpyeongdo, 50 miles west of the port city of Incheon, killing two South Korean soldiers and a further two civilians. The South Korean government has nevertheless confirmed that it will permit Pyongyang’s eight-strong delegation to attend the ceremony and that Moon Jae-in, the South’s president, will meet with them. Mr Moon will also meet Ivanka Trump, who is due to arrive in Seoul on Friday and will be heading the US officials at the closing ceremony. Despite suggestions that the event might be an opportunity for the two sides to talk, is unlikely that the US officials will agree to any such face-to-face meeting. At a glance | North Korean sanctions that were eased for Olympics Opposition parties in the South have expressed their outrage at that they see as Mr Moon kow-towing to the regime in Pyongyang. “The main culprit of the Cheonan’s sinking can never set foot on the land of the Republic of Korea”, Jun Hee-kyung, of the opposition Liberty Korea Party, said in a statement. Mrs Jun said North Korea’s decision to send Gen Kim to the closing ceremony is “shameless” and a “rare humiliation” for the South. She added that the only way Gen Kim should be permitted to enter South Korea would be if he was coming to “kneel before our people”, Yonhap news reported. Kim Hyun, a spokesman for the ruling Democratic Party, welcomed Pyongyang’s announcement and said, “We expect this visit will contribute to easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and moving inter-Korean relations forward”. He added that he hopes the North’s officials will meet with the US delegation that will be attending the ceremony and will include Ivanka Trump. North Korea war puff The White House confirmed on Wednesday that President Donald Trump has asked his eldest daughter to lead the “high-level delegation” to Pyeongchang. An official of the administration ruled out the possibility that Mrs Trump, who is due to arrive in South Korea on Friday, would meet with North Koreans during her three-day stay. Instead, she is scheduled to meet with female defectors from North Korea to hear about their experiences. It was revealed on  Tuesday that Mike Pence and North Korean officials had planned to meet secretly during his trip to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but Pyongyang scrapped the talks after the US vice president denounced abuses from the "murderous regime". In an interview printed on Thursday, Mr Moon declared that South Korea’s relations with the US are “rock solid” and “as robust as ever”, despite concerns that the apparent detante on the peninsula may be sidelining the US. He claimed that Mr Trump supports his efforts to engage North Korea in discussions, including a possible bilateral summit that Pyongyang has proposed.

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