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At summit with South, Kim accompanied by sister, generals

April 27, 2018 - 13:34 By AP
An influential young sister. North Korea's 90-year-old nominal head of state. A man believed to be behind attacks that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010. And the top foreign policy and military affairs strategists.
 
A list of high-profile North Korean officials accompanying leader Kim Jong Un to a border village to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in shows how serious Kim is about the Koreas' third-ever summit and what will likely be discussed.
 
A brief look at the makeup of Kim's entourage:
 
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KIM YO JONG


North Korea`s leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R) walks with South Korea`s President Moon Jae-in (R), followed by Kim`s sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong (2nd L), down a red carpet to the official summit Peace House building for their meeting at Panmunjom on April 27, 2018. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South`s President Moon Jae-in sat down to a historic summit Friday after shaking hands over the Military Demarcation Line that divides their countries in a gesture laden with symbolism. (AFP)

 
Kim, believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s, is Kim Jong Un's younger sister who is in charge of the North's propaganda affairs. Some experts say she's virtually the North's No. 2 after her brother executed, purged and demoted many ranking officials who could pose a threat to his absolute rule.
 
She was part of a North Korean delegation to the February's Winter Olympics in South Korea, becoming the first member of the North's ruling Kim family to visit South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. She met Moon and conveyed her brother's invitation to meet in Pyongyang.
 
Kim has frequently appeared at Kim's public events and acted freely, standing out amid elderly male officials.
 
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KIM YONG NAM
 
Kim's official title as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly makes him the North's titular head of state. He's famous for propaganda-filled speeches with deep, booming voices on key state anniversaries or receiving visiting foreign dignitaries on behalf of Kim Jong Un.
 
Kim Yong Nam came to South Korea for the Pyeongchang Olympics and met Moon with Kim Yo Jong. Experts say his influence in state affairs has diminished in recent years due to his age.
 
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KIM YONG CHOL
 
He's a former North Korean general whose current job is the head of the Workers' Party's United Front, the top North Korean organ responsible for relations with South Korea.
 
South Korea's previous conservative government accused Kim of masterminding the North's artillery strike on a South Korean island and its alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship, both in 2010, when he served as director of the North's spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
 
He attended the Olympics' closing ceremony, triggering a conservative backlash in South Korea.
 
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RI YONG HO
 
Foreign Minister Ri is a career diplomat who served as chief North Korean delegate to the long-stalled six-nation disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear threat. He also served as the North's ambassador in London.
 
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RI SU YONG
 
Ri is the top Workers' Party official handling international affairs. The former foreign minister was North Korea's ambassador to Switzerland when Kim studied as a teenager there.
 
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MILTIARY CHIEFS
 
_ Ri Myong Su, vice marshal who serves as chief of General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army.
 
_ Pak Yong Sik, an army general who is minister of the North's People's Armed Forces.
 
The two's addition to Kim's delegation suggests easing military tensions along the Koreas' heavily guarded border would be a topic at the summit.
 
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OTHERS
 
_ Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification, an agency specializing in inter-Korean ties. In January, he held the Koreas' first talks in two years with South Korea's unification minister, which led to the North's Olympic attendance.
 
_ Choe Hwi, a senior Workers' Party official who doubles as chairman of the North's National Sports Guidance Committee. He came to South Korea in February as part of the North's Olympic delegation. (AP)