INCHEON, South Korea, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- Chang Ung, a North Korean International Olympic Committee member, arrived in South Korea on Sunday to attend the 132nd IOC Session scheduled at the venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Chang arrived at Incheon International Airport from Beijing, where he stayed overnight Saturday. He is scheduled to travel to Gangneung, a sub-host city of the PyeongChang Winter Games and the venue for the 132nd IOC Session, on Monday.
"I am an IOC member. I wish and am sure that the PyeongChang Olympics will be a success," he told reporters at the airport.
Chang, a former basketball player, most recently visited the South in June of last year when a North Korean taekwondo squad participated in the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju.
The visit by the high-profile North Korean figure is being closely watched amid a recent breakthrough in talks between the two Koreas and the IOC over the North's participation at the first Winter Games in the South. North Korean athletes have been arriving in the South since late January.
Seeing North Korea at any Winter Olympics is a rarity. North Korea didn't have any qualified athletes for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and won zero medals in 2006 and 2010. The country has only one silver and one bronze in its eight previous Winter Olympic appearances.
Chang Ung, a North Korean International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, arrives at Incheon International Airport on Feb. 4, 2018, to attend the 132nd IOC Session in Gangeung, a sub-host city of the PeyongChang Winter Olympics, the following day. (Yonhap)
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