Mike Pence and Kim Jong-un’s younger sister have “no intention” of meeting, according to U.S. and senior North Korean officials, but they will be seated just feet apart at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Friday’s VIP seating arrangements are seen as a “protocol headache” for South Korean hosts, according to The Guardian. South Korea has been pushing for the Games in Pyeongchang to be known as a “peace Olympics.” However, the opening ceremony could turn awkward, since Pence is to be accompanied by the father of Otto Warmbier, the American student who was imprisoned by North Korea and died just days after being returned to the U.S. in a coma last year. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, is blacklisted under US. sanctions. She will be the first family member of the immediate family to cross the border between the countries that are technically still at war. Pence has vowed to prevent Kim from “hijacking the message and imagery” of the Olympics, and before traveling to South Korea, Pence said the U.S. would soon unveil “the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever.” The International Olympic Committee is leaving the decision on where to seat everyone up to the South Korean hosts.
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