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North Korean Central News Television released this video on Feb. 6 of the departure of the artistic performance group from Pyongyang Station the previous day. Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the central committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party, is shown shaking hands with Kwon Hyok-bong, director general of the art-performance management bureau at the Culture Ministry. (Yonhap News)
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The group includes head-of-state Kim Yong-nam and Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong-un
The meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North Korean high-ranking delegation that is scheduled for Feb. 10 will likely be an opportunity for South and North Korea to gauge each other’s actual intentions. While the two sides are in agreement about taking steps to fully restore inter-Korean relations during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, they have yet to sound out each other’s views about what will happen after the Olympics. North Korea’s high-ranking delegation – which includes Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly, and Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the central committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party – is planning to arrive at Incheon Airport 1:30 pm on Feb. 9, and then to head immediately to Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, where the opening ceremony of the Olympics will be held. The North Korean delegation will reportedly be welcomed at the airport by South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon. Since South Korean President Moon Jae-in is holding a reception that afternoon that will be attended by world leaders and other dignitaries, that is where Kim and Moon are expected to have their first encounter. A more significant meeting between Moon and the North Korean delegation will be taking place on Feb. 10. Moon is planning to grant an interview to the North Korean delegation that morning and then to have lunch with them. Since Kim Yong-nam is North Korea’s nominal head of state, he will presumably be shown the courtesy appropriate for a state leader. President Moon, flanked by his Blue House advisors and government ministers responsible for unification, foreign affairs and national security, might even sit down across from Kim Yong-nam and the rest of the North Korean delegation. The meeting and luncheon are likely to take place at the Blue House. Kim Jong-un’s younger sister Kim Yo-jong will also be attending this meeting as a member of the North Korean delegation. While any official message, such as a personal letter from Kim Jong-un, will no doubt be delivered by Kim Yong-nam, Kim Jong-un’s private sentiments are likely to be communicated to Moon by Kim Yo-jong. After spending three days in South Korea, the North Korean delegation is planning to return home on a charter flight on Feb. 11. Blue House tamping down expectations Officially, the Blue House is warning against unrealistic expectations, observing that serious discussion is unlikely to be held during the first meeting. “[We’re] ready to have a frank discussion about all possible topics. It’s all depends on the other side,” said a Blue House official. In other words, since Kim Yo-jong appears to have the authority to do more than just deliver a message for Kim Jong-un, the South Korean government is willing to expand the scope of dialogue beyond inter-Korean relations to the North Korean nuclear issue or even North Korea-US talks. Such speculation is supported by the fact that, during meetings on Feb. 8 with US Vice President Mike Pence and Han Zheng, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Moon pledged to treat the Pyeongchang Olympics as an opportunity for bringing North Korea to the table for talks about denuclearization and a peace treaty and emphasized that dialogue with North Korea would continue after Pyeongchang and would lead to talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. There are conflicting predictions about how North Korea will respond. “The fact that North Korea is sending Kim Yo-jong means that it’s serious about dialogue. The South Korean government feels obliged to serve as a springboard toward contact between North Korea and the US,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. “The Olympics could be an opportunity for the government to ‘prime the pump’ on under-the-table contact between North Korea and the US. But since American and North Korean desires are at odds, the question is what stratagems they will employ,” said University of North Korean Studies professor Koo Kab-woo. A different prediction was offered by Kim Dong-yub, a research professor at the Kyungnam University Institute for Far Eastern Studies. “North Korea never had any hope or idea of meeting with the US during the Olympics, and Kim Yo-jong will not take any political steps,” Kim said. North Korea appears uninterested in meeting with US “The US appears to be using the Olympics to set the mood for placing the ‘maximum pressure’ on North Korea rather than viewing it as an opportunity for making contact or engaging in dialogue. North Korea has noticed this and is saying that it’s not interested in dialogue,” said Wie Sung-rak, former South Korean ambassador to Russia. When Cho Yong-sam, director-general of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry was asked by a reporter from the Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 7 about the possibility of contact with the US during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Cho said, "We have never begged for dialogue with the US… We have no intention to meet with the US side during our visit to South Korea." In a related story, the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea asked the 15 member countries of the UN Security Council to temporarily exempt Choe Hwi, chairman of North Korea’s National Sports Guidance Committee, from the travel ban in UN Security Council Resolution No. 2356. The UN Security Council reserves the right to defer sanctions when necessary for another goal that is consistent with the goal of the resolution in question. Presuming there are no objections from the UN Security Council member countries, the sanctions against Choe will be postponed for the duration of his visit to South Korea. By Kim Bo-hyeop, Jung In-hwan, Kim Ji-eun, and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
