PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — North Korea says it is not...

It was a golden moment of diplomatic optics — Vice President Mike Pence sitting just feet from Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.

The stunning image was beamed around the world during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Games, where the two enjoyed the festivities while many worry their two nations are on the brink of a nuclear showdown.

Kim Yo Jong — the first member of the North’s ruling dynasty to visit the South since the end of the Korean War in 1953 — sat a row behind Pence with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Pyongyang and Seoul marched together as a unified team, much to the delight of the 30-year-old woman, who waved enthusiastically.

Pence stood to welcome the American athletes as the Korean pop hit “Gangnam Style” blared around the stadium, sparking the “Horse Dance” in the crowd and among the volunteers.

The moment failed to draw even a furtive smile from Kim Yo Jong and nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam, who sat stony-faced in the VIPs box in long coats.

Not long after, North and South Korean athletes entered Olympic Stadium together, waving flags showing a unified Korea — the long-time dream, in theory at least, of many Koreans in both North and South.

It was the rivals’ first joint Olympic march since 2007.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach then yielded the podium to Moon, who declared the Olympics officially open.

“Athletes from the two Koreas will work together for victory, and that will resonate with and be remembered in the hearts of people around the world as a sign of peace,” Moon said in a reception ahead of the ceremony, according to his office.

Bach lauded the joint march of the two Koreas as a “powerful message.”

With Post wires