Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong will attend Winter Olympics in South Korea in historic visit

Kim Jong-un’s sister will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, becoming the first member of her family ever to do so.

Kim Yo-jong, seen as one of the most powerful women in North Korea, will join a delegation led by the North’s ceremonial head of state as it attends the ceremony on Friday.

Kim Yo-Jong, Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, is a senior member of the ruling Workers’ Party and was promoted in October to be an alternate member of the party’s decision-making body, the politburo.

She has frequently accompanied her brother on various trips, but her attendance at the Winter Olympics is thought to be her debut on the international stage.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told AFP: “It is highly significant that a member of the Kim family is coming to the South for the first time in history.

“She is being groomed as one of the North’s most powerful figures by her brother.”

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It is thought that Kim Yo-jong will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-In and deliver a personal letter from her brother.

The Olympics has seen a thawing in relations between North and South Korea, with both set to mark under one flag at the opening ceremony.