Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, was previously banned from travel as part of US sanctions after being accused of masterminding the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010 that lead to the deaths of 46 sailors.
But working with the US to get around the blacklisting, Seoul are prepared to welcome the Pyongyang official to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
The move has been criticised by some in the south, who claim Kim’s visit is designed to sow discord among citizens and drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington.
The Kim Jong-un henchman is expected to meet the south’s President Moon Jae-in along with other officials, including the chief of South Korea’s spy agency.
His trip also coincides with a visit from Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who also serves in the White House as an unpaid senior advisor.
And with the tyrannical regime official set to be joined by delegates in charge of nuclear concerns and US relations, it makes the possibility of a sideline summit between the US and the hermit kingdom all the more likely.
Earlier this month President of the Korea Association of DMZ Studies Son Gi-woong suggested Ivanka could be key to opening up talks between the US and the Kim regime after a bellicose war of words between the leaders of the two states.
Mr Son claimed “there can be indirect dialogue and it can prepare an important next step for a summit.”
However the expert recommended Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong could be a key delegate for the Northern province.
Speaking of the dictator’s sibling, he said: “She could come back. Why not?”.
It is currently unknown if Ms Kim will be attending the ceremony.
The hermit kingdom has come out of its shell to participate in the games, which have included high profile visits from the Supreme Leader’s sister and the North Korean cheerleading squad, as well as an inter-Korean hockey team who walked under a unified flag.
And during the games the South’s leader Moon Jae-in welcomed an invitation to talks in Pyongyang, offered by Kim Jong-un himself.
Now experts believe the two men, with the help of a delicate US response, could broker peace in the region and use the momentum of the Winter Olympics to freeze Kim’s nuclear programmes.
Chung Dong-young, who previously worked as South Korea’s unification minister and negotiated with the young tyrant’s father Kim Jong-il, claimed the dictator could be more amenable to talks due to his international experience – having studied in Switzerland in his youth.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: “His father was brought up within North Korea and he was afraid of heights and to fly, while Kim Jong-un went to middle school in Bern and we’ve heard that he’s been travelling all across Europe on a Harley motorbike.
“So he’s very well acquainted with the outside world and I think it is possible to have a dialogue with him.”
“In my opinion Mr Moon will go to Pyongyang and he must go,”
However the former South Korean official advised his nation’s leader to demonstrate “the wisdom of a fox and the decisiveness of a fierce beast”.