Two Koreas continue consultations over N.K. high-level delegation's visit

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry said Saturday that it is continuing consultations with North Korea to fine-tune the details of a visit by Pyongyang's high-level delegation to the upcoming closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The consultations proceeded amid growing controversy over the delegation's chief, Kim Yong-chol, who is accused of masterminding two attacks in 2010 that killed a total of 50 South Koreans, including two civilians.

Kim, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, is set to arrive here on Sunday for a three-day visit as the head of the eight-member delegation, according to the ministry. The delegation will attend the Olympics' closing ceremony set for later in the day.

"(We) are holding consultations with the North regarding working-level issues such as the detailed schedule of the high-level delegation," an official at the ministry said, declining to be named.

Conservatives in the South have strongly protested Seoul's decision to accept the delegation, arguing that Pyongyang's inclusion of Kim, a controversial figure who is under domestic and international sanctions, appears intended to sow discord among South Koreans, drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington and weaken the current sanctions regime.

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