Pence and Kim Jong Un’s sister sat meters from each other at the winter games’ opening ceremony

Look closely. That’s a historic moment right there.

It shows Mike Pence, the US Vice President, watching the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Games. And sitting in the row behind him is Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

She’s the woman second from left in the back row. Pence, of course, is the white-haired man third from right in the front row.

Even months ago, such an encounter would have been unthinkable.

Kim Yo Jong is the first member of the North’s ruling dynasty to visit the south since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Pence has been vocal in his criticism of North Korea in the runup to the Games, sat meters away.

The presence of Kim, who was promoted to the country’s Politburo, the senior body of North Korea’s communist party, as an alternate member last year, represents a hugely significant move in the thawing of relations between the North and South.

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