(CNN) Kim Jong Un is sending his younger sister to South Korea for the Winter Olympics, the first time any member of the Kim dynasty has visited the country. 
 
 South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a statement that Kim Yo Jong will be joining North Korea's high-level delegation to the South, headed by Kim Yong Nam , president of North Korea's parliament. 
 
 The 30-year-old, who has seen her profile rise steadily since 2014, was last year promoted to North Korea's Politburo. She and Kim Jong Un were born to the same mother, Ko Yong Hui. 
 
 Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at the official opening of the Ryomyong residential area, April 13, 2017. 
 
 Kim Yo Jong's inclusion in the North Korean delegation is likely to irritate the United States, which has sent its own delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence to counter North Korea's charm offensive. 
 
 Last year, the US Treasury Department included Kim Yo Jong on its list of blacklisted officials . As the vice director of the Workers' Party Propaganda and Agitation Department, she has been targeted by US sanctions. 
 
 On a refueling stop on his way to Asia, Pence said the aim of his trip was to show American "resolve" in rallying the international community against the Kim regime. 
 
 "We're traveling to the Olympics to make sure that North Korea doesn't use the powerful symbolism and the backdrop of the Winter Olympics to paper over the truth about their regime," Pence said. 
 
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 But South Korea welcomed the announcement, saying it was "significant that Kim had included his sister in the delegation. 
 
 "We believe that the North's announcement of the delegation shows its willingness to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula along with a message of celebration for the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games," it said in a statement. "It is significant that the delegation also includes Kim Yo Jong, who is Chairman Kim Jong Un's sister and holds an important position in the Workers' Party of Korea." 
 
 Shadowy figure 
 
 Like most members of the Kim clan, little is known about Kim Yo Jong beyond her official rank. According to NK Leadership Watch, she is a close aide of her brother's "and since his accession manages his public events, itineraries and logistical needs, among other tasks." 
 
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 She was promoted to the country's Politburo as an alternate member in October. 
 
 Born September 26, 1987, Kim Yo Jong studied in Switzerland like her brother and is believed to have attended Kim Il Sung University and a western European school for her higher education. 
 
 Her position is such that, according to a Seoul-based think tank run by North Korean defectors, Kim Yo Jong briefly took charge of the country while her brother was reportedly ill with gout or diabetes in late 2014. 
 
 Hopes for a breakthrough 
 
 Kim's presence, alongside Kim Yong Nam (no relation), the 90-year-old ceremonial head of state in North Korea, will raise hopes for a potential breakthrough in relations with the US. 
 
 This week, Pence suggested he would be open to meeting North Korean politicians on the sidelines of the Olympics, saying President Donald Trump "always believes in talking." 
 
 "North Korea can have a better future than the militaristic path, the path of provocation and confrontation that it's on. Better for its own people, better for the region, and better for peace," Pence said. 
 
 However on Wednesday he also warned the US was about to impose the "toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever." 
 
 "We will continue to isolate North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all," he said. 
 
 The Vice President's delegation includes the father of the late Otto Warmbier, an American student who died shortly after being released from North Korean custody. 
 
 Fred Warmbier and his wife Cindy were in the audience during US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address last month. 
 
 They looked on tearfully as the President cited their son's treatment as a example of the "menace that threatens our world." 
 
 The US delegation will be joined by the President's daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump , who will attend the closing ceremony on February 25, a White House official said Monday. 
 
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 Hundreds of North Koreans have arrived in South Korea ahead of the Opening Ceremony on Friday. 
 
 Though only 22 athletes will compete in events, the North's delegation will be among the largest at the Games. 
 
 It includes an 114-strong art troupe and 96-crew who arrived at South Korea's Mukho port on Wednesday aboard the Mangyongbong 92 cargo-passenger ferry. 
 
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 Kim's delegation includes Hyon Song Wol, the lead singer of Kim Jong Un's favorite girl band, whose every move was followed by a insatiable South Korean press during a pre-Games tour last month. 
 
 Hyon's the closest thing North Korea has to a celebrity and her presence in Pyeongchang is an indication of how seriously North Korea is taking its Olympic diplomatic mission. 
 
 Kim Jong Un's Olympic plans also include a massive military parade on Thursday through the streets of the North Korean capital Pyongyang. The display would be an attempt "to scare the hell out of the Americans," a diplomatic source told CNN last month. ||||| Image copyright KCNA Image caption Kim Yo-jong in a 2015 picture of her brother touring a military unit 
 
 The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is to attend the Winter Olympic Games which open in Pyeongchang in the South on Friday, ministers in Seoul say. 
 
 Kim Yo-jong, a senior Workers' Party official promoted to the politburo last year, will be the first immediate Kim family member to cross the border. 
 
 Both Koreas will march under one flag at the opening ceremony. 
 
 The North's participation has been seen as a thawing of bilateral ties. 
 
 However, the US, Japan and others have accused the North of using the Games for propaganda purposes. 
 
 Who is Kim Yo-jong? 
 
 Believed to have been born in 1987, she is the youngest daughter of late leader Kim Jong-il and is Kim Jong-un's full sister. She is about four years younger than her brother and is said to be very close to him. 
 
 She is reportedly married to the son of Choe Ryong-hae, the powerful party secretary. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Kim Yo-jong at the opening of a residential complex in Pyongyang in 2017 
 
 Kim Yo-jong has been in the spotlight sporadically in recent years, with her main job being to protect her brother's image via her role in the party's propaganda department. 
 
 She remains blacklisted by the US over alleged links to human rights abuses in North Korea. 
 
 A message from her brother? 
 
 Analysis: BBC's Laura Bicker in Seoul 
 
 This is a huge surprise. There had been speculation Kim Yo-jong might be part of the delegation but few thought it would actually happen. It is being seen as a sign that Kim Jong-un is serious about improving ties with South Korea. 
 
 Kim Yo-jong is one of Kim Jong-un's closest aides and some are speculating that she might be bringing a message from her brother. 
 
 But there could be a number of obstacles to overcome if she is to make it to Pyeongchang. She is targeted by US sanctions for alleged human rights abuses, although she is not on the UN Security Council travel blacklist. 
 
 There is also the question of how she will get to the Games. Seoul has had to request special permission from the US and others in the international community to allow North Korean athletes and performers to travel south by bus and ferry. They may have to do so again and this time it will be for a member of Kim Jong-un's own family. 
 
 How rare is this visit? 
 
 It would be the first by a direct member of the Kim dynasty. 
 
 Chang Song-thaek, Kim Jong-un's uncle and brother in law of Kim Jong-il, did travel to the South but did not belong to the Baekdu blood line, which is considered significant. 
 
 There is speculation in the South that this is part of Kim Yo-jong's grooming for greater power, and that she could be bringing a letter from her brother to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who she is likely to meet. 
 
 It is unclear whether Kim Yo-jong will be at the opening ceremony on Friday. 
 
 Who else is in the delegation? 
 
 Politically, four figures, including Kim Yo-jong, are key. The others are: 
 
 Kim Yong-nam . North Korea's ceremonial head of state, the president of its parliament. The diplomatically sure-footed 90-year-old has seen the rule of all three North Korean leaders and has travelled overseas before 
 
 . North Korea's ceremonial head of state, the president of its parliament. The diplomatically sure-footed 90-year-old has seen the rule of all three North Korean leaders and has travelled overseas before Ri Son-gwon . The head of the North Korean state agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs. A veteran negotiator, he was North Korea's chief delegate at the rare inter-Korean talks held in January 
 
 . The head of the North Korean state agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs. A veteran negotiator, he was North Korea's chief delegate at the rare inter-Korean talks held in January Choe Hwi. Vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party and chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee. Under US state department sanctions 
 
 And the rest of the North Korean team? 
 
 It's a 280-strong delegation, most of whom arrived in the South on Wednesday. 
 
 Led by North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il-guk, it includes 229 cheerleaders, four officials from the National Olympic Committee, 26 taekwondo demonstrators and 21 journalists. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption North Korean cheerleaders arrive in the South for the Games 
 
 The team arrived via a western border at 09:28 local time (00:26 GMT), the Yonhap news agency reported. 
 
 Only 10 athletes will compete for the North at the Games, along with another 12 as part of a unified Korean women's ice hockey team. 
 
 Drip, drip, drip of PR 
 
 Michael Madden, North Korea leadership expert 
 
 In announcing its delegates both to the 2018 Winter Olympics and the inter-Korean culture events on the sidelines, Pyongyang let out the information in a slow drip. 
 
 Part of this is Pyongyang maximising the positive PR effects. The announcement of the full delegation came following the arrival of its athletes to the Games late last week, and one day after 10 musicians arrived in South Korea. 
 
 So now North Korea has earned itself a third day of positive media coverage about its participation in the Olympics. 
 
 How have others reacted? 
 
 The US is scornful of the North's motives over the Olympics and is sending Vice-President Mike Pence to the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang to counter what it terms propaganda. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Both the US and Japan have been critical of the North's Olympics policy 
 
 "We're travelling to the Olympics to make sure that North Korea doesn't use the powerful symbolism in the backdrop of the Winter Olympics to paper over the truth about their regime," he said. 
 
 He was in Tokyo on Wednesday and maintained the pressure, announcing that "the United States will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea". 
 
 Japan has been equally sceptical. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said: "We must not be fooled by North Korea's 'smile diplomacy'." 
 
 Where are we on North-South ties? 
 
 North Korea currently faces growing international pressure and sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes. 
 
 Its latest ballistic missile test, on 28 November, sparked a new series of measures from the UN, targeting petrol shipments and travel for North Koreans, and a war of words between the North and US President Donald Trump. 
 
 Kim Jong-un then extended a New Year's olive branch to the South over participation in the Olympics, which run from 9 to 25 February. 
 
 The perceived warming of ties has not been without difficulties, not least the North's decision to move a military parade in Pyongyang from April to the day before the opening of the Games. ||||| FILE - This 2015, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong, left, during their visit to a military unit in North Korea. South... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This 2015, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong, left, during their visit to a military unit in North Korea. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said North Korea informed Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, that Kim Yo Jong would... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This 2015, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong, left, during their visit to a military unit in North Korea. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said North Korea informed Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, that Kim Yo Jong would... (Associated Press) FILE - This 2015, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong, left, during their visit to a military unit in North Korea. South... (Associated Press) 
 
 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, an increasingly prominent figure in the country's leadership, will be part of the North's delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics, officials said Wednesday. 
 
 Kim Yo Jong, believed to be around 30, will be the first member of North Korea's ruling family to visit South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Analysts say her inclusion in the Olympic delegation shows North Korea's ambition to use the Olympics to break out from diplomatic isolation by improving relations with the South, which it could use as a bridge for approaching the United States. 
 
 By sending a youthful, photogenic person who will undoubtedly attract international attention during the Olympics, North Korea is also trying to construct a fresher and warmer public image and defuse potential U.S. efforts to use the Pyeongchang Games to highlight the North's brutal human rights record, experts say. 
 
 Kim Jong Un might also have seen that U.S. President Donald Trump was sending his daughter, Ivanka, to the Olympics ceremony and decided to match the move by sending his sister, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification. 
 
 By sending a relative, "Kim Jong Un may be trying to present himself as an equal to Donald Trump," Hong said. 
 
 South Korea's Unification Ministry said North Korea informed it that Kim Yo Jong, first vice director of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, would be part of the delegation led by the country's nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam. 
 
 The ministry said Kim Yo Jong's schedule in the South has yet to be determined, and it wasn't immediately clear whether she will meet with President Moon Jae-in, a liberal who has expressed a desire to reach out to the North. 
 
 Moon's office welcomed the decision to send Kim Yo Jong, which it said showed the North's willingness to cooperate in efforts to ease tensions in the Korean Peninsula. 
 
 "First Vice Director Kim Yo Jong is Chairman Kim Jong Un's sister who has an important role in the Workers' Party, (so her visit) is that much more meaningful," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said in a statement read on television. 
 
 Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University, said Kim Yo Jong, as Kim Jong Un's relative and apparently one of the few people who has earned his absolute trust, carries more weight as a dialogue partner for the South than any other official the North could send. 
 
 It's unclear whether any member of the North Korean government delegation will hold talks with U.S. officials during the Olympics. But Kim Yo Jong's presence would give North Korea a better opportunity to win South Korean help in reaching out to the United States, Hong said. He also said Washington may see Kim Yo Jong as an avenue to deliver messages to Kim Jong Un. 
 
 "With any other North Korean official, even the so-called No. 2 Choe Ryong Hae, you are getting a person who's just parroting orders given by Kim Jong Un," Hong said. "But with Kim Yo Jong, you are getting a person who's chiefly involved in designing Kim Jong Un's rule, a person whom the leader actually listens to." 
 
 North Korea said the delegation will also include Choe Hwi, chairman of the country's National Sports Guidance Committee, and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North's agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs. 
 
 Seoul previously said the delegation would arrive Friday, but Wednesday's statement was the first confirmation that a member of the North's ruling family will be included. 
 
 Kim Yo Jong and Kim Jong Un were born to the same mother, Ko Yong Hui. They had a half brother, Kim Jong Nam, who was murdered last year at a Malaysian airport. 
 
 Kim Yo Jong was promoted by her brother last year to be an alternate member of the decision-making political bureau of the ruling party's central committee, which analysts said showed that her activities are more substantive than previously thought. 
 
 The war-separated Koreas are cooperating on a series of conciliatory measures during the Olympics, which the South sees as an opportunity to ease tensions with the North following an extended period of animosity over its nuclear weapon and missile programs. Skeptics think North Korea is trying to use the Olympics to weaken U.S.-led sanctions and pressure against it and buy time to advance its weapons programs. 
 
 North Korea has 22 athletes competing in the Winter Olympics but also has sent performing artists and a large cheering group. 
 
 A decision by North Korea to send the artists by sea has triggered debate in the South, where conservatives see the move as a clear indication the North is trying to use the Olympics to ease sanctions against it. 
 
 South Korea is deciding whether to accept North Korea's request that it provide fuel for the ferry that transported the artists. Seoul exempted the ferry from sanctions to allow it in South Korean waters. 
 
 "We will closely discuss with the United States and other related nations the matter of providing convenience to the Mangyongbong ferry so that no problem regarding sanctions would occur," said Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman, Baik Tae-hyun.
– In a move seen as a sign that North Korea is serious about improving relations with the South—and about thumbing its nose at the US—Kim Jong Un's powerful younger sister will be visiting South Korea as part of the North's high-level Olympic delegation. Kim Yo Jong, who is a full sibling of the North Korean leader and is believed to be around 30 years old, will be the first "direct member" of the Kim dynasty to visit the South, the BBC reports. South Korean officials welcomed the surprise announcement, saying it is "significant that the delegation also includes Kim Yo Jong, who is Chairman Kim Jong Un's sister and holds an important position in the Workers' Party of Korea." Analysts say Kim Jong Un appears to be trying to present a warmer image of North Korea. By sending his sister when President Trump is sending daughter Ivanka, Kim "may be trying to present himself as an equal to Donald Trump," Hong Min at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification tells the AP. Mike Pence, meanwhile, is on a visit to Asia aimed at counteracting Pyongyang's "charm offensive," as CNN puts it. He told reporters Wednesday that the US is about to impose the "toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever." Kim Yo Jong was in January 2017 placed on the US Treasury Department's sanctions list over the country's human rights record, Reuters reported at the time; here's what else we know about her.