Add Olympic envoy to the growing list of official state responsibilities of Kim Yo Jong, the youngest sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose public profile is steadily growing.
Since the first public acknowledgments in 2014 that she held an official position, 30-year-old Kim Yo Jong has had several high-profile promotions, becoming a member of the main political branch of the Workers’ Party. She previously held a key position in the regime's propaganda apparatus.
Kim Yo Jong is believed to be the youngest child of the late leader, Kim Jong Il, and was born to the same mother as her brother Kim Jong Un.
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She will become the first member of North Korea's ruling Kim family to visit South Korea in any capacity, and her presence is likely to draw great attention during the Olympic Games being held there at a time of heightened tension between Pyongyang and Washington.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)
North Korea will have a large delegation at the games, including a massive team of cheerleaders as North and South flirt with the idea of normalizing relations.
Vice President Pence, who will also attend the games in PyeongChang, on Wednesday echoed the Trump administration's tough rhetoric in the quest to curb North Korea's nuclear threat.
“I’m announcing that the United States of America will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever, and we will continue to isolate North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all,” Pence said in Tokyo at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Pence appeared to warn the isolated nation that any attempts to portray itself and the south as a unified people would be met with great skepticism.
“We will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games,” Pence said. “We will not allow North Korea to hide behind the Olympic banner the reality that they enslave their people and threaten the wider region.”
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