By Park Si-soo



North Korea said Thursday it will send a high-level delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics' closing ceremony, Seoul officials said.

Kim Yong-chol, head of the ruling party's United Front Department, will lead the eight-member delegation for a three-day trip that will start Sunday, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

The delegation also includes Ri Son-gwon, head of the North's agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump is set to attend the ceremony, raising speculation about whether she and Kim, representing the U.S. and North Korea respectively, will have any form of meeting, which was pushed during and after the opening ceremony, but which the North called off at the last minute.

"The government thinks the delegation will help improve inter-Korean relations and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, including the North's denuclearization," the ministry said. "In that sense, Seoul will accept their visit."



The U.S. government said on Wednesday U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to meet with North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong-un's sister, while in South Korea two weeks ago for the Winter Olympics's opening ceremony but the North Koreans canceled at the last minute.

Signs of a North-South thaw have prompted speculation that it could lead to direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang after months of tension and exchanges of insults between U.S.