N. Korea Says to Send Delegation to Prepare for Olympics Tomorrow

The North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang has been interpreted as an apparent diplomatic breakthrough after months of high tension over the North's nuclear and missile programme.

North Korea sent a statement on Saturday saying it would send the delegation by a land route on Sunday, and the schedule during the visit could be carried out as previously agreed, the Unification Ministry said in a statement.

Read: North Korea Likely to Participate in Winter: Olympics Official

The South Korean government has agreed to the visit on Sunday, the ministry said.

A seven-member North Korean team had been scheduled to visit on Saturday to check venues for the performances, the ministry said, but late on Friday North Korea canceled the visit.

At the Games, the two Koreas will field a combined women's ice hockey team and march together under one flag, Seoul said earlier this week, after a new round of talks amid a thaw in cross-border ties.

Read: North and South Korea Set to Talk on January 9

Meanwhile, North Korea has accused the United Nations Secretary-General of bias over its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches for not also taking the United States to task over its own nuclear programme. The North criticised the U.S. and other nations for calling its nuclear programme "violations of resolutions".

Pyongyang said the remarks it took issue with were in the vein of "the U.S. desperately trying to reverse the trend of detente and improvement of inter-Korean relations", seemingly referring to the breakthrough surrounding the Winter Olympics, according to a statement from North Korea's Permanent Mission to the UN.

REUTERS