N. Korea to send high-ranking delegation to Asian Games closing ceremony
2014/10/04 09:21
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea plans to send a high-ranking delegation to the Incheon Asian Games closing ceremony Saturday, Seoul's Ministry of Unification said.
According to official sources, the North informed the South on Friday that it wants to send Hwang Pyong-so, Choe Ryong-hae and Kim Yang-gon to the ceremony slated for 6 p.m. Saturday.
The three officials plan to arrive via a direct air route from North Korea to Incheon at 10 a.m.
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae is expected to hold talks with the North Korean officials after their arrival.
Hwang was recently tapped as the director of the military's General Political Bureau, the top military post in North Korea.
Kim is head of the United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, tasked with overseeing the activities of sleeper agents operating in South Korea, while Hwang is said to exert considerable influence in the North despite stepping down from his post of deputy chairman of the National Defense Commission.
Seoul, meanwhile, said it will withhold judgment on why the North is sending such a high-level delegation to Incheon at this juncture.
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