[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Aju News) -- North Korea offered Thursday to send a delegation led by a blacklisted senior military official to the Olympic closing ceremony following Washington's announcement that a U.S. delegation led by President Donald Trump's daughter will visit South Korea.
In a cross-border message, the North said an eight-member delegation led by Kim Yong-chol, head of the United Front Department (UFD), will visit South Korea Sunday for a three-day trip, the South's unification ministry said, adding Kim would attend the closing ceremony in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang.
The UFD head is expected to see President Moon Jae-in, his office said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Moon to a summit in Pyongyang in a letter conveyed by his sister who accompanied a high-level delegation to the Olympic opening ceremony.
As an intelligence expert, Kim Yong-chol, presumed to be 72, has been known for his hardline stance against South Korea. He had led the Reconnaissance General Bureau in 2009 and the North's reconnaissance bureau allegedly involved in the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of a front-line island in 2010.
He was among a number of North Korean officials blacklisted under South Korean sanctions. In his current position as UFD head, the man is deeply involved in inter-Korean affairs, although there were unconfirmed reports in Seoul that he was sent to a rural farm for one month of re-education in 2016 for abusing his power.
Earlier, Washington said that Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to the president, is to have dinner on Friday with Moon at his office. The first daughter plans to attend various Olympic events before returning home on Monday. The trip spurred speculation over her role in the Trump administration's potential engagements with North Korea, but U.S. officials said she does not have plans to meet with North Korean officials.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
