[PyeongChang 2018] Cheong Wa Dae welcomes US announcement of Paralympic delegation

South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's appointment of his secretary for homeland security to lead a delegation to the PyeongChang Paralympic Games.

The White House announced earlier that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will head the presidential delegation to the March 9 opening ceremony of the Paralympics set to run through March 18 in the same alpine town where the Winter Olympics took place.

US Department of of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (center) (EPA-Yonhap)

"We welcome that the US announced the head of its delegation to the Paralympics for the first time in the world," a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I think it is meaningful that a senior US administration official with considerable influence is coming."

Earlier this month, Trump sent Vice President Mike Pence to the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics and his daughter and adviser, Ivanka, to the closing ceremony. (Yonhap)