A high-level North Korean delegation has arrived in Pyeongchang for the Winter Olympic closing ceremony, including a general thought to be the mastermind of a deadly attack on a South Korean ship, the Yonhap news agency reports.
General Kim Yong Chol, former head of North Korea's intelligence agency, the reconnaissance bureau, and a current vice chair of the ruling Workers' Party's central committee, crossed the inter-Korean border on Sunday with seven other members of the delegation, according to Yonhap.
Kim is accused of having planned the 2010 torpedoing of a South Korean warship, which resulted in the deaths of 46 people.
Opposition parties in South Korea and families of the victims have called for protests against his visit and have demanded it be cancelled or for him to be arrested upon arrival.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he accepted the visit despite rejection from large sections of the population as he considers it a step forward in the thaw in ties between the two Koreas during the Games.
The delegation will attend the Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday evening and there has been speculation about a possible meeting with a US delegation on the sidelines.
Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump's daughter, is also attending the closing ceremony and arrived in South Korea with national security official Allison Hooker, who met Kim in Pyongyang in 2014.
Australian Associated Press
