Mike Pence has insisted "there is no daylight" among the United States and allies South Korea and Japan over their stance on Pyongyang.

The US Vice President spent the days leading up to the Pyeongchang Olympics warning that the North was trying to "hijack the message and imagery" of the event with its "propaganda." But the North was welcomed with open arms to what South Korean President Moon Jae-in called "Olympic games of peace."

It was the US that appeared to be the one left in the cold, especially after the sister of the North Korean dictator extended an invitation from her brother for Moon to visit the North. That was the clearest sign yet of an expanding diplomatic opening opposed by the Trump administration.

Pence said Moon updated him about the meeting he had with North Korean officials and "both of us reiterated to each other tonight that we will continue to stand strong and work in a coordinated way to bring maximum economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on North Korea."

Moon was all smiles as he greeted Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, the country’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, for lunch at the presidential residence.