North Korean leader King Jong Un to send sister to Winter Olympics
Kim Jong Un's sister will be part of the North Korean delegation which will attend the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics taking place in South Korea, Seoul has confirmed.
North Korea informed the South that Kim Yo Jong will travel to Pyeongchang for the games, alongside nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam who will lead the delegation.
It is anticipated that the group will arrive in South Korea on Friday.
Kim Yo Jong was promoted by her brother last year to a new post in the North's ruling party that analysts said showed her activities are more substantive and more important than previously thought.
North Korea will have 22 athletes competing at the games but it is not thought that any will be able to compete for honours in Pyeongchang.
As well as Kim Yo Jong, the first vice director of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, the delegation will include Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North's agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs.
Kim Yo Jong, believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s, is thought to be one of Kim Jong Un's closest confidants. They were born to the same mother, Ko Yong Hui.