[Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Aju News) -- The daughter of President Donald Trump expressed her desire Friday to deliver a message of Washington's "strong and enduring" commitment to South Korea as she led a U.S. delegation to the closing of the Winter Olympics.
Ivanka Trump who serves as a presidential adviser was to have dinner with South Korean President Moon Jae-in later in the day. During her four-day stay, she will attend various Olympic events before returning home on Monday.
"We are very excited to attend the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to cheer for Team USA and to reaffirm our strong and enduring commitment with the people of the Republic of Korea," she told reporters at an airport west of Seoul, according to pool reports.
Her trip spurred speculation over her role in the Trump administration's potential engagements with North Korea, but U.S. officials have said she has no plan to meet with North Korean officials. A North Korean delegation led by Kim Yong-chol, head of the United Front Department (UFD), will visit South Korea Sunday for a three-day trip.
After attending the closing ceremony on Sunday, Kim is expected to see Moon. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Moon to a summit in Pyongyang in a letter conveyed by his sister who accompanied a high-level delegation to the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.
South Korean conservative groups and opposition politicians opposed the trip by Kim Yong-chol, an intelligence expert known for his hardline stance against South Korea. He had led the Reconnaissance General Bureau in 2009 and the North's reconnaissance bureau allegedly involved in the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of a front-line island in 2010.
Kim Yong-chol was among a number of North Korean officials blacklisted under South Korean sanctions. In his current position as UFD head, the man is deeply involved in inter-Korean affairs.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
