International

North Korean athletes and delegates arrived in the South Wednesday to take part in the Winter Paralympics, as part of an Olympics-driven detente between the two neighbours. Two competitors -- both of them taking part in cross-country skiing -- along with four observer athletes and 18 officials crossed the land border north of Seoul before heading for the venues. Their journey came a day after Seoul announced plans to hold a historic summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in -- the latest fruit of their Olympics-fuelled diplomacy. Moon sought to use the February 9-25 Pyeongchang Winter Games to try to broker dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in a bid to ease the nuclear standoff between them. The North mounted a charm offensive by sending hundreds of cheerleaders and Kim's sister to the opening ceremony of the Games, during which athletes from the two Koreas marched together under a neutral "unification flag". Seoul responded by sending Moon's special envoys -- including his spy chief -- to Pyongyang this week, where leader Kim told them he was willing to discuss denuclearisation with the US. The North Korean athletes -- Kim Jong Hyon and Ma Yu Chol -- may march with their counterparts from the South during Friday's opening ceremony for the Paralympics, which run until March 18. The pair made their international debuts in a tournament in January in Oberried, Germany. It is the first time the North, which has often faced criticism for its cruel treatment of disabled people, has taken part in the Winter Paralympics. Pyongyang had previously sent athletes to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London and the 2016 edition of the games in Rio. Craig Spence, a spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said the athletes had been given "bipartite" slots for the games, meaning they had not been able to meet the full qualification criteria. "They have bipartite invitations from us due to their circumstances. They have not been travelling around the world and have not been able to take part in all the qualifying events," he told AFP.

North and South Korea will hold their first summit in more than a decade in late April, the South's presidential office said on Tuesday after a senior delegation returned from a visit to the North where they met leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea said there was no need to keep its nuclear programme as long as there was no military threat against it and the safety of its regime was secured, the head of the delegation, Chung Eui-yong, told a media briefing. North Korea also said it was open to talking with the United States regarding denuclearisation and normalising ties, Chung added. 

The most senior South Koreans to travel North for more than a decade arrived in Pyongyang Monday to meet leader Kim Jong Un, the latest step in an Olympics-driven rapprochement on the divided peninsula. The delegation, who travelled as envoys of the South's President Moon Jae-in, are pushing for talks between the nuclear-armed regime and the United States, after Kim sent his sister to the Pyeongchang Winter Games. "It was agreed... that they would attend a meeting and dinner with Kim Jong Un," said Moon's spokesman. Kim Yo Jong's trip was the first visit to the South by a member of the North's ruling dynasty since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and her appearance at the Games' opening ceremony -- where athletes from the two Koreas marched together -- made global headlines. Moon has sought to use the Pyeongchang Games to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has heightened fears over global security. In Seoul, Kim Yo Jong invited him to a summit in Pyongyang on her brother's behalf. But Moon did not immediately accept, saying the right conditions were necessary first. Before leaving for Pyongyang, the South's national security advisor Chung Eui-yong said: "We plan to hold in-depth discussions for ways to continue not only inter-Korean talks but dialogue between North Korea and the international community including the United States." It is a challenging task -- in defiance of UN sanctions, the isolated and impoverished North last year staged its most powerful nuclear test and test-fired several missiles, some of them capable of reaching the US mainland. US President Donald Trump dubbed Kim "Little Rocket Man" and boasted about the size of his own nuclear button, while the North Korean leader called Trump a "mentally deranged US dotard".  They traded threats of war and sent tensions soaring before a thaw in the run-up to the Winter Olympics. "We will deliver President Moon's firm resolution to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and to create sincere and lasting peace," delegation leader Chung told reporters. Chung is one of five senior officials who flew to Pyongyang on Monday. It was the first ministerial-level South Korean visit to the North since December 2007, when Seoul's then-intelligence chief travelled to Pyongyang. Conservative Lee Myung-bak was elected the South's president the following day and took a markedly harder line on relations with the North. Washington connection Monday's delegation included spy chief Suh Hoon, who is a veteran in dealings with the North. He is known to have been deeply involved in negotiations to arrange two previous inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007. The North's official Korean Central News Agency also announced their impending visit in a one-paragraph dispatch. The 10-member group -- five top delegates and five supporting officials -- will return to Seoul on Tuesday. Other members include Suh's deputy at the National Intelligence Service as well as Chun Hae-sung, the vice minister in Seoul's unification ministry which handles cross-border affairs. The delegation will fly to the US on Wednesday to explain the result of the two-day trip to officials in Washington, according to the South's presidential office. Moon, who advocates dialogue with the North's nuclear-armed regime, said last week that Washington needs to "lower the threshold for talks" with Pyongyang. But the US has ruled out any possibility of talks before the North takes steps towards denuclearisation, and imposed what Trump hailed as the "toughest ever" sanctions on Kim's regime late last month.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will send a team of special envoys -- including Seoul's spy chief -- to the North on Monday to push for talks between Washington and Pyongyang on nuclear weapons. The delegation, announced by Moon's office on Sunday, is the latest chapter in a remarkable Olympics-driven detente between the two Koreas. An intense rapprochement saw the two foes march together at the South's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that ended February 25, with the North's leader Kim Jong Un sending his sister as a special envoy to the event. Kim Yo Jong's appearance at the Games' opening ceremony made global headlines, marking the first visit to the South by a member of the Kim family since the end of the Korean war. Moon has sought to use the Pyeongchang Games to open dialogue between the US and the North in the hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has heightened fears over global security. He chose five top officials -- including top national security advisor Chung Eui-yong and spy chief Suh Hoon -- to visit Pyongyang on Monday, Moon's spokesman said. "The special delegates will have extensive discussions over issues including creating conditions for North-US talks to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and improving inter-Korea ties," Yoon Young-chan told reporters. The 10-member group -- five top delegates and five supporting officials -- would fly to the North's capital Pyongyang on Monday afternoon before returning on Tuesday, Yoon said. The delegation will then fly to the US to explain the result of the talks to officials in Washington, he added. Suh is a veteran in dealings with the North. He is known to have been deeply involved in negotiations to arrange two previous inter-Korea summits in 2000 and 2007. The isolated, impoverished North staged its most powerful nuclear test and test-fired multiple missiles last year, including some capable of hitting the US mainland, in defiance of UN sanctions. The North's leader Kim and US President Donald Trump have also traded threats of war and personal insults, sending tensions soaring. Moon, who advocates dialogue with the nuclear-armed regime, said last week that Washington needs to "lower the threshold for talks" with Pyongyang. But the US has ruled out any possibility of talks before the North takes steps towards denuclearisation, and imposed what Trump hailed as the "toughest ever" sanctions on Kim's regime late last month. On Saturday, a foreign ministry spokesman in Pyongyang called on the US drop any preconditions for talks. "The US is taking preposterous action by continuing to trumpet an insistence that it will not have dialogue unless a right condition is met," the unnamed spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run KCNA news agency.

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday sought a 30-year jail term for former President Park Geun-hye who was ousted last year amid an influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country's business and political elite. Park, 66, was dismissed in March after being impeached and is standing trial on charges of bribery, abuse of power and coercion. She denies wrongdoing. The prosecution's recommendation came two weeks after Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of Park who was at the centre of the scandal, was jailed for 20 years for taking bribes from ‘chaebol’, or conglomerates, including electronics powerhouse Samsung and retail giant Lotte. Prosecutors are also seeking a 118.5 billion won ($127.1 million) fine. A lawyer representing Park said he was requesting clemency as Park had tried her hardest ‘day and night’ as president, according to the News1 agency. Park's trial began in May and a verdict is expected before April. Park's case brought scrutiny to the cosy ties between South Korea's political leaders and its largest chaebol, the so-called ‘Republic of Samsung’. ‘(Park) brought a national crisis by letting a person who has never been involved in state management rule the country,’ a prosecutor said. ‘She and Choi took tens of billions of won in bribes and yet denied her crimes and obstructed efforts to establish the truth.’ Receiving bribes carries a penalty of up to life in jail. The court also sentenced Shin Dong-bin, chairman of the country's fifth-largest conglomerate, Lotte Group, to two years and six months in prison in the same case. Seoul High Court suspended a prison sentence for Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee in early February - a surprise decision that sent shockwaves through political and business circles. The court sentenced Lee to two and a half years in jail on charges including bribery and embezzlement - reducing the original term by half - but suspended the sentence for four years, meaning that he is unlikely to serve any more time in jail.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the United States to “lower the threshold for talks” with North Korea yesterday as his aides held rare talks with a Pyongyang general on ways to defuse tensions.   Moon has sought to use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in the hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has sparked global security fears.  Pyongyang mounted a charm offensive during the Games, sending athletes, cheerleaders and performers. The North’s leader Kim Jong-un also sent his sister to attend the opening ceremony before dispatching Kim Yong-chol, a powerful general in charge of inter-Korea affairs for the ruling Workers’ Party, to Sunday’s closing event.  But there was no known interaction between the North and the US during the Games and Washington on Friday imposed what US President Donald Trump described as the “heaviest ever” sanctions on the isolated regime. “I think the US needs to lower the threshold for talks and the North also needs to show determination for denuclearisation,” Moon said in a meeting with Liu Yandong, a Chinese envoy to the closing ceremony.   “It’s important that the US and the North sit together as soon as possible,” Moon said, urging efforts by Beijing to make that happen. Moon, in a meeting with Kim Yong-chol on Sunday, also urged the North to open dialogue with the US as soon as possible — to which Kim responded by saying the North was “very willing” to hold talks. But the US has ruled out any possibility of talks before Pyongyang — which last year staged multiple missile and nuclear tests — takes steps towards denuclearisation. “We will see if Pyongyang’s message today, that it is willing to hold talks, represents the first steps along the path to denuclearisation,” the White House said in a statement.   “The maximum pressure campaign must continue until North Korea denuclearises,” it said. Trump and Kim Jong-un have traded threats of war and colourful personal insults, prompting concerns over a potential conflict on the flashpoint peninsula once left in ruins after the 1950-53 Korean War.   Kim Yong-chol also met Moon’s top aides including national security adviser Chung Eui-yong yesterday as conservative demonstrators denounced his presence in the South. During the meeting, Kim reiterated that the “doors are open for dialogue with the US”, according to Moon’s office.  Kim is accused of masterminding deadly attacks on the South, including the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship that left 46 dead. Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing the ship — a charge the North denies. 

* North's delegation meets with govt officials for 2nd day * Protesters rise against N Korean officials' visit South Korea said on Monday it hopes for ‘constructive’ talks between North Korea and the United States, a day after a delegation from the North told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that Pyongyang was open to talks with Washington. Baik Tae-hyun, a spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of Unification, said it was hoped talks would begin when ‘an appropriate opportunity’ arose. The North Korean delegation, led by former military intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol, met Chung Eui-yong, security adviser for the presidential Blue House, and other South Korean government officials for lunch on Monday. Kim Yong Chol was accused by the South of being behind the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010 that killed 46 sailors. North Korea has denied all allegations linked to the torpedoed warship. ‘Both sides agreed to work together for permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, sustainable relations between North and South Korea and balanced cooperation with the international society,’ the South's presidential office said in a statement after Monday's lunch meeting. The North's delegation met Moon on Sunday in Pyeongchang, site of the Winter Olympics, and later attended a dinner hosted by Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon where participants from both sides agreed to continue cooperation in boosting ties between the two Koreas, the unification ministry said. Kim Yong Chol and his delegation will leave on Tuesday, just as North and South Korean officials gather on the North's side of the Panmunjom truce village to discuss Pyongyang's attendance at the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics. Hundreds of right-wing protesters gathered in central Seoul on Monday to criticise Moon and his administration for hosting the North Korean visitors, Kim Yong Chol in particular. Conservative activists and lawmakers have been protesting against the government's decision to allow Kim Yong Chol, who faces sanctions from both South Korea and the United States, into the South. His visit has enraged families of the sailors who were killed in the torpedo attack, threatening the mood of rapprochement Seoul has sought to create at the Winter Olympics. The South Korean government said it had approved the delegation to pursue peace on the peninsula. A total of 299 North Koreans who were in South Korea for the Winter Games, including a cheering squad, returned to the North on Monday. In Washington, the White House has said any talks with North Korea must lead to an end to its nuclear programme and that its sanctions on the North would continue. Washington announced on Friday it was imposing its largest package of sanctions to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programmes. North Korea condemned the latest round of sanctions imposed by the United States, accusing it of trying to undermine an improvement in inter-Korean relations during the Winter Olympics, state media said in a statement. Pyongyang has not fired any missiles since November but it defends the weapons programmes as essential to deter US aggression.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said the fight against doping continued and suggested it could never be won, but confirmed that a ban on Russia would be lifted if further doping tests at the Pyeongchang Games were negative. ‘We cannot ignore human reality,’ Bach said on Sunday, hours before the closing ceremony of the Winter Games. Bach said two doping cases involving Russian athletes at the Games  ‘played the major role’ in deciding that Russia remained banned from the Pyeongchang Olympics, which meant its athletes were prevented from marching under their own flag at the closing ceremony. ‘If there are no positive results the sanction is considered to be lifted,’ he said, adding that this would be ‘automatic’ if confirmed by the Doping Free Sports Unit (DFSU). ‘I don't think these Olympic Games have been been tainted by the affair,’ he said. ‘These are cases of negligence and there is no indication for a systemic doping affair here or any involvement of the Olympic Athletes from Russia leadership or the Russian Olympic Committee.’  Curler Alexandr Krushelnitckii and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva both tested positive during the Games.  The way the IOC had dealt with the wider Russian doping affair, allowing 168 Russians to compete as neutral OAR athletes, ‘is not a blueprint because I hope this affair remains a unique one,’ he said. Bach painted a positive picture of the Games and praised the South Korea organizers. ‘I think at the end of this Olympic Winter Games at Pyeongchang 2018 we can all be very happy for many different reasons, and the IOC is very happy about the great success of these Olympic Games,’ he said. The Games had sent a ‘powerful message’ with the thawing of relations between South Korea and the North, Bach said, highlighting the unified Korean women's ice hockey team and the joint march of the Korean teams at the opening ceremony. ‘We hope now that the political world will use this momentum for the dialogue on their level because now it's up to the politicians,’ he said. ‘Sport and the IOC has done what we could do in this respect. We will continue this dialogue for Olympic matters but what is more important now is that this dialogue is being followed up on the political side concerning the political tensions.’

North Korea on Sunday slammed the latest US measures against it as an ‘act of war’, after US President Donald Trump announced the ‘heaviest sanctions ever’ on the nuclear-armed regime. The measures, which Washington says are aimed at forcing Pyongyang to roll back its banned nuclear and weapons programmes, target more than 50 North Korea-linked shipping companies, vessels and trade businesses. ‘Like we have said repeatedly, we consider any restrictions on us as an act of war,’ the North's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. It also vowed a retaliation if the US ‘really has the nerves’ to confront the North in a ‘rough’ manner. Trump warned on Friday that, if the latest sanctions don't work, the US would ‘go to phase two’ that ‘may be a very rough thing’, without elaborating. In response, the North also vowed to ‘subdue the US in our own way’ if provoked, saying ‘Trump is trying to change us with such sanctions and hostile remarks, which shows his ignorance about us’. ‘We already have our own nuclear weapon -- a treasured sword of justice to protect us from such threats from the US,’ the foreign ministry said. The comment came hours before the North's senior delegation led by Kim Yong Chol, a blacklisted military general, is set to attend the closing ceremony of the South's Winter Olympics, which will also be attended by Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.

Canadian skier David Duncan was arrested on charges of stealing a car in South Korea, where he was competing at the Winter Olympics, officials and Canadian media said on Saturday. Duncan's wife, Maja, and manager, Willy Raine, also were arrested, the Canadian Olympic Committee said. Raine was charged with impaired driving, CBC News and the Canadian Press reported. The three were released on Saturday but restricted from leaving Canada, CBC reported. A police official in charge of international crime at Gangwon Provincial Police Agency told Reuters on Saturday that a Canadian athlete, his wife and manager had gotten into a car in Pyeongchang that had been left unlocked and unoccupied with the engine running. The official, who did not identify the suspects by name, said the manager drove off with the car before it was stopped by police. The manager has been charged with drunken driving, the official said. Once the investigation is complete the results will be sent to the prosecution, the official said, adding that unless the alleged offence was deemed a serious crime, they would be able to leave the country after paying a fine. In a statement on Saturday, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Overholt said the Korean police had concluded their investigation and that the team members had been released. "We expect our athletes and team members to conduct themselves responsibly and in keeping with our Canadian and Olympic values," Overholt said. "We are deeply disappointed in the behaviours of these individuals." The Duncans issued a joint statement saying that they were deeply sorry. "We engaged in behaviour that demonstrated poor judgment and was not up to the standards expected of us as Members of the Canadian Olympic Team or as Canadians," they said. Raine said his actions were "inexcusable." "Words are not enough to express how sorry I am," he said in his statement, adding he let his teammates down and that he also wanted to apologize to the owner of the vehicle.

Russia's fate hung in the balance as the International Olympic Committee met Saturday to decide whether to lift its ban for mass doping before the Pyeongchang Winter Games closing ceremony. Russia's national Olympic committee were suspended in December over systemic drug-cheating that reached its apex at the Sochi 2014 Olympics. The IOC allowed 168 Russians deemed drug-free to compete in South Korea under a neutral flag, but despite extensive vetting, two of them failed drugs tests. The IOC will decide in the next 36 hours whether the country can be readmitted. Officials have pointed out that a ‘partial’ lifting of the ban is one option for the IOC. The behaviour of the 168 Russian athletes over the past fortnight -- including the failed doping tests -- will form a major part of the considerations. The IOC was giving nothing away on Saturday as its executive board met behind closed doors to pour over the observations of a special panel scrutinising the Russians. ‘The executive board will hear and decide today on the basis of what they've heard from the panel what the next steps will be,’ said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. The Russians are hoping that the ban could be lifted in time to parade their national flag for Sunday evening's closing ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. On Friday, Russia's bobsleigh federation said female pilot Nadezhda Sergeyeva had tested positive for a ‘heart medicine’ which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances. It was dope-scarred Russia's second doping case in Pyeongchang, after curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was stripped of his mixed doubles bronze medal for taking the banned substance meldonium. Addressing the latest case, Adams said: ‘We are always extremely disappointed when there's a doping case, but so far there have been very few cases.’

South Korean lawmakers protested Friday over a visit by a top North Korean general for the Pyeongchang Olympics, labelling him a war criminal over the 2010 sinking of a warship and calling for his execution. Kim Yong Chol will head an eight-member delegation to arrive on Sunday for the Games' closing ceremony -- which will also be attended by US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, creating protocol headaches for Seoul officials. Kim is widely blamed for a spate of attacks against the South including the torpedoing nearly eight years ago of the Seoul's Cheonan corvette, with the loss of 46 lives. Some 70 lawmakers of the conservative Liberty Korea Party staged a protest outside the presidential Blue House, urging President Moon Jae-in to scrap the visit. "Kim Yong Chol is a diabolical war criminal who attacked the South... He deserves death by hanging in the street," the party's parliamentary floor leader Kim Sung-tae said in a statement. "Even if the heavens split in two, we cannot allow such a heinous criminal -- who must be sliced to death -- to be invited to the Olympics closing ceremony," he said. Unification ministry spokesman Baek Tae-hyun said the South Korean government was aware of widespread misgivings about Kim Yong Chol's visit to the South, but accepted it as the "chances for improving inter-Korean ties and a peace settlement might be improved". At a Blue House dinner Friday evening with the South Korean president, Ivanka Trump -- who is special advisor to her father -- said she was there to "reaffirm our commitment to our maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean peninsula is denuclearised". Moon however stressed that engagement with the North had defused tensions between the neighbours. "North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas and this has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula and an improvement in inter-Korean relations," Moon said. "I also believe that such developments are thanks to President Trump's strong support for inter-Korean dialogue," he added. The president also told Ivanka Trump in a separate meeting that the US and South Korea "must seize this hard-earned opporunity" to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, Yonhap news agency quoted Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan as saying.  Charm offensive The Pyeongchang Olympics have seen a charm offensive by the North, which sent leader Kim Jong Un's sister to the opening ceremony as it seeks to loosen sanctions against it and weaken the alliance between Seoul and Washington. US Vice President Mike Pence was also present for the start of the Games, and sat only a few seats away from Kim Yo Jong, without exchanging words with her -- having earlier visited a memorial to the Cheonan and condemned the North for abusing human rights. Officials from both Seoul and Washington say there is little or no prospect of a meeting between Ivanka Trump and the North Korean representatives. But Seoul authorities are still struggling over how to manage their presence at the same event. "At the closing ceremony their lines of movement will not cross," a senior official of Seoul's presidential Blue House told Yonhap news agency. "Authorities are in agony over protocol and the seating plan at the closing ceremony." President Trump is set to announce the "largest-ever" package of sanctions on the Pyongyang regime, targeting 56 North Korea-linked shipping and trade entities, according to excerpts from a speech he will give later on Friday. Testing the limits Seoul blames the North for the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan -- widely believed in the South to have been ordered by Kim Yong Chol -- although Pyongyang denies responsibility. At the time he was head of the North's Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is responsible for espionage and sabotage activities against the South. Kim has also been linked to the shelling of the South's Yeonpyeong island the same year, which killed four people. Unification ministry spokesman Baek said the sinking of the Cheonan was "certainly the North's work" but sought to play down Kim Yong Chol's role. "There are limits to pinpointing those who were directly responsible", he said. Kim Yong Chol's presence is widely seen as a demonstration of how Pyongyang is using the Olympics-driven rapprochement to test the limits of multiple different sanctions imposed on it over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The general is blacklisted under Seoul's unilateral measures against the North -- meaning he is subject to an assets freeze -- although he is not named in the UN Security Council's sanctions. In an editorial, the conservative Chosun Ilbo daily said: "By sending Kim Yong Chol, the North is in effect insulting the South and the bereaved victims of the Cheonan."

US President Donald Trump will Friday announce sanctions against 56 North Korea-linked shipping and trade entities, hailing the "largest-ever" package of sanctions on the Pyongyang regime. According to excerpts, Trump will use a speech to conservatives outside Washington to step up his campaign of "maximum pressure." "Today I am announcing that we are launching the largest-ever set of new sanctions on the North Korean regime," Trump was to say. "The Treasury Department will soon be taking new action to further cut off sources of revenue and fuel that the regime uses to fund its nuclear program and sustain its military by targeting 56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses that are assisting North Korea in evading sanctions." 

* Washington to announce 'largest' sanctions package * Sanctioned North Korean Kim Yong Chol to attend Olympics * Planned meeting with North Korean president * Spy agency says Kim 'right person' for inter-Korean talks * Trump's daughter to arrive in Seoul on Friday The United States is due to announce its largest package of sanctions yet against North Korea to further pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programme, as South Korea readies itself for more talks with the North's officials. Tougher sanctions may jeopardise the latest detente between the two Koreas amid their preparations to create conditions appropriate to hold a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A senior US administration official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, called the new penalties "the largest package of new sanctions against the North Korea regime," without giving details. US Vice President Mike Pence had hinted at such a plan two weeks ago during a stop in Tokyo that preceded his visit to South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wants to boost the "warm climate of reconciliation and dialogue" with South Korea after a high-level delegation including his sister returned from the Winter Olympics. Last year, North Korea conducted dozens of missile launches and its sixth and largest nuclear test in defiance of United Nations sanctions. However, it has now been more than two months since its last missile test in late November. The new US sanctions will be announced while President Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is visiting South Korea to attend a dinner with Moon and the closing ceremony of the Games. In addition to the dinner which will feature a kosher menu for Ivanka's dietary restrictions, the Blue House has planned a small traditional Korean music performance for her delegation. Her visit coincides with that of a sanctioned North Korean official, Kim Yong Chol, blamed for the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean navy ship that killed 46 sailors. His delegation will also meet with Moon. The Blue House has said there are no official opportunities for US and North Korean officials to meet. 'Right person' Kim Yong Chol is the vice-chairman of the North's ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee and was previously chief of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a top North Korean military intelligence agency which South Korea blamed for the sinking of its navy corvette the Cheonan. North Korea has denied any involvement in the sinking. South Korea on Friday said it approved the Winter Olympic visit by Kim Yong Chol in the pursuit of peace and asked for public understanding. "Under current difficult circumstances, we have decided to focus on whether peace on the Korean peninsula and improvement in inter-Korean relations can be derived from dialogue with (the visiting North Korean officials), not on their past or who they are," said Unification Ministry Baik Tae-hyun in a media briefing. A South Korean lawmaker briefed by the country's spy agency said on Friday that Kim was the "right person" for inter-Korean and denuclearisation talks. "Kim Yong Chol is the top official regarding inter-Korean relations and he is being accepted (here) as the right person to discuss various issues like easing military tension, improving inter-Korean ties and denuclearisation," said Kang Seok-ho to reporters. Kim currently heads the United Front Department, the North's office responsible for handling inter-Korean affairs. Protests  South Korea's decision on Thursday to allow Kim, currently sanctioned by the United States and South Korea, across the border has sparked protest from family members of the dead Cheonan sailors and opposition parties. Some 70 members from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party staged a protest in front of the presidential Blue House on Friday, demanding the government withdraw its decision. "President Moon's decision to accept the North's facade of peace is a serious issue and it will go down in history as a crime eternal," said the party in a statement. A group of family members of those killed in the Cheonan sinking has said it will hold a press conference against the decision on Saturday. Acknowledging public angst over Kim's pending visit, Baik said the South's stance that the Cheonan sinking was instigated by the North has not changed. "However, what's important are efforts to create actual peace on the Korean peninsula so these kind of provocations don't occur again," said Baik, adding the government would make "various efforts" to assuage the public's concerns. 

US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka will come face-to-face with a top North Korean general at the Winter Olympics closing ceremony in the South this weekend, it emerged on Thursday. The Pyeongchang Games have become a venue for geopolitics as much as sports as the nuclear-armed North mounts a charm offensive analysts say is intended to loosen the sanctions regime against it and weaken the alliance between Seoul and Washington. Leader Kim Jong Un dispatched his sister Kim Yo Jong to the opening ceremony -- which US Vice President Mike Pence also attended -- and during her visit she extended an invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to come to a summit in Pyongyang. The family connections will be reversed at Sunday's closing ceremony. The White House said Donald Trump had asked his eldest daughter -- who is also one of his top advisers -- to travel to Pyeongchang to lead up a "high level delegation". The 36-year-old businesswoman and former model will be joined by press secretary Sarah Sanders and is going in part because "she is something of a winter sports enthusiast", an official said. The North will send an eight-member delegation on Sunday headed by Kim Yong Chol, a top general who oversees inter-Korean relations for the ruling Workers' Party, Seoul's unification ministry said in a statement. Kim Yong Chol's presence is a demonstration of how Pyongyang is testing the limits of the multiple different sanctions imposed on it over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The general is blacklisted under Seoul's unilateral sanctions against the North -- meaning he is subject to an assets freeze -- although he is not named in the UN Security Council's measures. He is believed to have once led the North's spying agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and to have ordered a deadly torpedo attack on the South's corvette Cheonan in 2010 that left 46 sailors dead. Seoul blamed the North for the attack but Pyongyang denied involvement. South Korea's defence ministry has also linked him to the shelling of its Yeonpyeong island the same year, which killed four people. Moon dinner   The Games have seen a flurry of cross-border visits and diplomacy on the habitually tense peninsula, where strains were racked up last year as the North conducted a battery of weapons tests and its leader Kim Jong Un exchanged personal insults and threats of war with Trump. Moon -- who did not immediately accept the invitation to go to the North -- has been trying to use what Seoul promotes as a "peace Olympics" to defuse tensions and open a door for dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington. But at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, Kim Yo Jong sat just a few seats away from US Vice President Mike Pence, who did not exchange a word with her at any point. Pence had earlier denounced the North's "murderous regime", and according to US officials the North Koreans later cancelled a meeting that had been scheduled for the day after the Games' opening.  Ivanka Trump is scheduled to have dinner with Moon on Friday, and Yonhap news agency cited the presidential Blue House as saying he was also likely to meet Pyongyang's delegation during its three-day trip. But a senior administration official ruled out any possible meeting between Ivanka and officials from North Korea, and a Seoul government source also said such an encounter was unlikely. Pyongyang has used the Games to try to soften its image in the international community and push for talks with Seoul -- which would lessen the possibility of a US military strike, touted as an option by Trump administration officials. But North-South discussions would have a limited impact on wider tensions, said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert and a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul. "The major problem is between North Korea and the United States," he told AFP. "Therefore, no amount of talks between North and the South... is going to change anything significantly." Washington has sought to project resolve in the face of a growing threat from the North -- which has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and last year carried out its most powerful nuclear blast to date. The US insists it will persist with its campaign of "maximum pressure and engagement", and has repeatedly sought to underscore the importance of a troubled alliance with Seoul. 

Seoul on Wednesday approved a $2.6 million budget to cover expenses for North Koreans visiting for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, officials said, after the North's leader praised the South's hospitality. Seoul has been careful to try to ensure that the North Koreans' visit does not lead to a breach of the many different sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, and the money is expected to be paid directly to service providers, rather than Northern officials. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, who chairs the ministry's South and North Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council that provided the funds, said the North's presence in Pyeongchang was generating "key momentum for improving inter-Korean relations and securing peace on the Korean peninsula". He acknowledged concerns over the nuclear-armed North's participation in the South's Games. "We are keeping well in mind IOC regulations, international norms and sanctions against the North," Cho added, according to Yonhap news agency. US Vice President Mike Pence warned last week he would not allow "North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games". North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised the welcome the South gave the North's high-level delegation last week, which included his sister Kim Yo Jong. Yo Jong delivered Kim's invitation for the South's President Moon Jae-in to come to a summit in Pyongyang. Moon did not immediately accept, saying the "right conditions" were needed.

The friend of former South Korean leader Park Geun-hye who was at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country's business and political elite has been sentenced to 20 years in jail, a Seoul court said on Tuesday. Prosecutors had demanded a 25-year jail term for Choi Soon-sil on charges including coercion, bribery, influence-peddling and abuse of authority for using her links to the former president for personal gain. The Seoul Central District Court also ruled on Tuesday that Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, charged with bribery, was guilty and sentenced him to two years and six months in jail. The court ordered his immediate arrest. Park was dismissed from the presidency last March after being impeached and is in jail. She is on trial on charges of bribery, abuse of power and coercion. She has denied any wrongdoing. 

A prim, young woman with a high forehead and hair half swept back quietly gazes at the throngs of people pushing for a glimpse of her, a faint smile on her lips and eyelids low as four bodyguards jostle around her.  In her first appearance on the global stage, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had her every move closely scrutinised. Crowds applauded as she stood for the South Korean anthem during the opening ceremony for the start of the Winter Olympic Games, while her big smiles and relaxed manner left a largely positive impression on the South Korean public.  But her sometimes aloof expression and high-tilted chin also spoke of someone who sees herself “of royalty” and “above anyone else”, leadership experts and some critics said. Kim Yo-jong’s visit to South Korea, the first by a member of the North’s ruling bloodline since their 1950-53 war, could hardly have come at a more acute time. US Vice President Mike Pence was also in town, leading international pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme and reminding the world of the Kim family’s brutal regime. When shaking hands or eating meals with officials such as South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Yo-jong was all smiles, even agreeing to give a toast suddenly requested of her by the presidential Blue House’s chief of staff. “I can’t speak very well in public,” she told guests attending a dinner at the five-star Banyan Tree Club and Spa in Seoul.  “I never thought I would visit (the South) so suddenly and believed much would be strange and different but I saw many things that were similar or the same. I hope the day we become one comes soon and hope to see all your friendly faces in Pyongyang.” With so little known about her (even her age of 28 is unconfirmed), scrutiny on Kim Yo-jong was intense, dominating local media and internet chatrooms.  “Personally I think she looked very relaxed during her visit to South Korea,” said Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector who works at the Seoul-based Daily NK website. “Her facial expressions were cool and she didn’t seem flustered.” Reportedly schooled in Switzerland, the youngest daughter of former leader Kim Jong-il was promoted by her brother to the country’s top decision-making body in October.  Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership, said Kim Yo-jong left a largely positive impression on the South Korean public. “North Korea used ‘soft power’ this time to engage the South and her being a woman may have contributed more in that aspect,” Kim told Reuters. Even her elegant, sloping handwriting was parsed in South Korean media. Experts said it conveyed confidence, superiority and reflected a positive attitude. Not everyone was impressed, however. Kim Yo-jong’s aloof expression when she wasn’t meeting with high-ranking South Korean government officials and high-tilted chin prompted scorn from many South Koreans, who said she looked “too haughty” or “uppity”.  “Her neck is straight and her head is skewed to the right, automatically sending her gaze down. I think this comes from her thinking she is above everyone else,” said Bae Sang-hoon, professor of police science at Seoul Digital University and a former criminal profiler at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Critics also highlighted Kim Yo-jong’s senior role in a regime accused by a United Nations inquiry of systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.  Last January, the US Treasury Department blacklisted her along with six other North Korean officials for “severe human rights abuses” and censorship that concealed the regime’s “inhumane and oppressive behaviour”. “Among the upper class in Pyongyang, she is a frightening presence,” because of her relationship with her brother, said An Chan-il, a former North Korean military officer who now runs a think tank in Seoul. “She has been thought of as royalty since she was born, and she sees herself that way as well.” The body language of the high-ranking North Korean officials who accompanied her was also telling of her status in the North, said analysts. North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam deferred to her upon arrival, asking her to sit down first ahead of tea with the South’s unification minister.  It is customary in Korea and some other Asian countries for the highest ranking, usually the eldest, person in the group to sit down first for a meal or meeting. While Kim Yo-jong demurred in front of the cameras, insisting Kim Yong-nam sit first, the impression had been made.  “This showed Kim Yo-jong was the real person in power, and not just because of her lineage,” said Cheong Seong-chang, senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute. Don’t be ‘blinded’ by charm offensive: Japan Japan yesterday warned against being “blinded” by North Korea’s diplomatic charm offensive at the Winter Olympics, saying the main goal remains ridding Pyongyang of nuclear weapons.  Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono used a visit to Singapore, the current chair of the Asean regional bloc, to call for unity in dealing with Pyongyang, a spokesman said.  “We need to maximise pressure on North Korea, to corner North Korea to change its policy by fully implementing the UN Security Council Resolution,” said Toshihide Ando, deputy press secretary at Japan’s foreign affairs ministry. “We will continue to work with the United States and South Korea on this issue. But it’s important that we should not be blinded by the charm offensive by North Korea,” he told reporters at a briefing on Kono’s visit.  He said Kono met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan separately and discussed regional issues, including developments on the Korean Peninsula.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has used the Winter Games hosted by South Korea in Pyeongchang to unleash a diplomatic push for his isolated regime.  Kim sent his powerful sister Kim Yo-jong to the Games where she delivered a letter inviting South Korean President Moon Jae-in to a summit.  She is the first member of the dynasty to set foot in the South since the Korean War.  North Korea’s delegation to the Games also included the country’s ceremonial head of state and hundreds of female cheerleaders. 

Vicious winds caused a string of crashes and complaints as America's Jamie Anderson survived the chaos to clinch her second straight slopestyle snowboarding Olympic gold in treacherous conditions on Monday. Nearly all the athletes -- including Anderson -- tumbled at some point at Pyeongchang's frigid Phoenix Park, where strong winds forced Sunday's qualifiers to be scrapped and also delayed the final for more than an hour on Monday. The numerous falls -- none of the athletes appeared to have been badly hurt -- prompted grumbling that the final was allowed to take place at all. It was just the latest event at the Games to be disrupted by the wind, with the prestigious men's downhill skiing moved to Thursday after falling victim to the weather. "So many people got hurt because of the wind already," said Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser, a day after 17-year-old Tess Coady, the youngest member of the Australian team in South Korea, was forced out after wrecking her left knee in training. "Even yesterday, the practice we did in the morning was dangerous," added Gasser after finishing 15th in the slopestyle. Gasser called it "a lottery" and said: "I don't think it was a fair competition and I'm a little disappointed in the organisation that they pulled through with it. "From my point of view I think it was not a good show for women's snowboarding." - 'Huge gusts of wind' - Britain's Aimee Fuller, who finished down in 17th after crashing, branded them some of the toughest conditions she had competed in and said she had "no chance" of landing her last jump when she was caught by one strong gust. "Conditions today were definitely a challenge. It was for sure not what I wanted, not what I expected, not what I dreamed of for my Olympic final," said the 26-year-old, who was unhurt in the fall. "There were huge gusts of wind -- I've decided to call it the Pyeongchang Gust."  Anderson, 27, became the first woman to win two Olympic snowboarding golds, despite briefly falling in her final run, with Laurie Blouin of Canada earning silver and Finland's Enni Rukajarvi taking bronze. But all the talk was about the wind, which coupled with the sub-zero temperatures made life tough for athletes and spectators. In the build-up to competition, Britain's Katie Ormerod and teenager Coady both suffered Games-ending injuries on the slopestyle course, which features high rails and huge jumps to negotiate in the swirling winds. Coady ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), abruptly ending her first Olympics and leaving her facing several months on the sidelines. She blamed the wind for the crash, writing on Instagram: "Well Olympics came to a screeching halt today for me... got picked up in the wind on the bottom jump in practice and my ACL was not a big fan!" Ormerod was sidelined after breaking her heel in training -- after earlier fracturing her wrist on the Pyeongchang course.

Olympic officials on Sunday said a cyberattack was responsible for an internet and wifi shutdown during the Pyeongchang Winter Games opening ceremony, but refused to say who was responsible. Internal systems crashed just before Friday's ceremony but didn't disrupt the high-tech gala, which was attended by VIPs including the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and US Vice-President Mike Pence. Cyber security experts had warned of potential attacks on the Winter Olympics, with both North Korea and Russia touted as possible sources. In January, a malware attack targeted organisations involved with the Olympics. South Korea's defence ministry and cybersecurity experts are included in the taskforce investigating Friday's attack, but the possible culprit is being kept under wraps. "We are not going to reveal the source," said Sung Baik-you, spokesman for the Games' local organisers. Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, said it was "normal practice" not to disclose the source as investigations continue. "At the moment we are making sure that our systems are secure, which they are, so discussing details of it is not helpful," he said. "I certainly don't know who it is, and best industry practice is that you don't talk about an attack at this stage," Adams added. North Korea has been accused of involvement in a number of cyber incidents, including last year's global "WannaCry" attack -- although it slammed the accusation as "absurd". Russia has also denied launching any hacking attacks on the Pyeongchang Olympics, where its team is formally banned following the revelation of systemic doping.