Winter Olympics 2018: Ivanka Trump To Lead US Delegation In Closing Ceremony

First daughter Ivanka Trump will be attending the closing ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic winter games as she leads the presidential delegation in South Korea in February, according to a White House Official.

The official added the visit was arranged by President Donald Trump and the United States Olympic Committee. During her stay in South Korea, Ivanka will also reportedly attend some of the Olympic events in which United States’ athletes are participating, CNN reported Tuesday.

The White House was yet to make an official announcement regarding Ivanka’s schedule and reveal the names of the other members of the delegations who will be joining the senior adviser to the president during the visit.

Although Ivanka has not confirmed the news of her attending the Olympic Games 2018 closing ceremony – scheduled to be held on Feb. 25 – she might have dropped a subtle hint last week when she tweeted the following post:

After her father became the POTUS last year, the first daughter successfully worked with the International Olympic Committee to bring the summer Olympic Games to Los Angeles in 2028. The last time the U.S. hosted the summer Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence will be attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Feb. 5, as part of his six-day trip to Asia. According to White House officials, who spoke to Mail Online on the condition of anonymity, Pence will discuss the topic of North Korea — primarily focusing on its human rights abuses and aggressive nuclear programs conducted by its leader Kim Jong Un — with Asian countries.

“We'll be telling the truth about North Korea at every stop,” Pence told reporters Monday. “We'll be ensuring that whatever cooperation that's existing between North and South Korea today on Olympic teams does not cloud the reality of a regime that must continue to be isolated by the world community.”

Although the U.S. has not formally requested a meeting with the North Korean delegation, which will be attending the Olympic Games, Pence has not ruled out the possibility of coming face to face with them during his visit.

“Let me say President Trump has said he always believes in talking. …But we'll see what happens,” Pence said.

The North Korean delegation will be led by Pyongyang’s head of state, Kim Jong Nam, who is the highest-level North Korean national to visit the southern half of the Korean peninsula in the recent past.

As for Pence’s delegation, the father of late U.S. student Otto Warmbier’s father, Fred Warmbier, will be accompanying the vice president to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. Otto, an Ohio native, died as a result of systematic torture at a detention facility in North Korea as punishment for stealing a hotel sign. He was in a coma when he was brought back to his country in June 2017 and died shortly after.

It was reported that both the Koreas are set to march under a single flag during the Olympic Games, signaling improvement in relation between the two nations.