Kim Jong Un's sister is about to make a historic visit to South Korea.

Ms. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - Photo: Picture Alliance/DPA/Jiji Press.

This is considered a historic visit, in part because world leaders, including US Vice President Mike Pence, are also expected to attend the event.

In addition, according to Bloomberg news agency, Ms. Kim Yo Jong will also be the first official representative of the Kim family, a family with three generations of North Korean leaders, to set foot in South Korea. The Ministry of Unification of the South Korean Government announced that Ms. Kim Yo Jong - who became a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea last year - will attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics this Friday.

Kim Yo Jong's visit could be seen as a symbolic move by Pyongyang to demonstrate its desire to ease tensions in inter-Korean relations. However, Western analysts also believe that Kim Yo Jong's presence could be for propaganda purposes, drawing attention away from South Korea and increasing pressure on the US-South Korea alliance.

Speculation about a visit by Kim Jong Un's sister has intensified after US Vice President Mike Pence signaled he could be open to talks with North Korean officials while attending the Pyeongchang Olympics.

But the issue is complicated by the fact that Kim Yo Jong is on a list of North Korean officials sanctioned by the US because she is the head of Pyongyang's propaganda department. Any contact between Pence and Kim Yo Jong would be considered a violation of Washington's sanctions.

After a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on February 7, Mr. Pence took a tough stance on North Korea, telling reporters that the U.S. administration would “soon impose the toughest and most powerful economic sanctions” on North Korea.

"We will not allow North Korean propaganda to steal the message and image of the Olympics," the US vice president said.

Despite South Korea's recent active negotiations with North Korea, the White House remains skeptical. The US has expressed concern that North Korea could use the ongoing inter-Korean talks, as well as the two countries marching under a common flag at the Olympics opening ceremony, as a "trick" to divide the US-South Korea alliance.

Meanwhile, Professor Koh Yu-hwan of Dongguk University in Seoul said that Ms. Kim Yo Jong may convey a message from Mr. Kim Jong Un to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"This is the clearest signal yet that Kim Jong Un's desire to improve inter-Korean relations is strong, and he wants to show the world this... The US will not be comfortable with such a move," said Mr. Koh - head of the advisory team to the South Korean National Security Council.

In addition to Ms. Kim Yo Jong, Pyongyang also sent Mr. Kim Yong Nam, Chairman of the National Assembly, as head of the North Korean delegation to the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Believed to be under 30 years old, Kim Yo Jong is the biological sister of Kim Jong Un.

According to Yonhap news agency, the two brothers Jong Un and Yo Jong grew up in Pyongyang and attended the same boarding school in Switzerland. Ms. Kim Yo Jong is considered the woman with great influence on Mr. Kim Jong Un, besides North Korean first lady Ri Sol Ju.