SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea has sent a high-level delegation led by a top aide to leader Kim Jong Un to Rio de Janeiro for the upcoming Olympic Games.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency says a delegation headed by Choe Ryong Hae, vice chairman of the country's State Affairs Commission, left Pyongyang on Saturday to attend the Olympics.
North Korea, which has been put under heavy international sanctions over its nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year, has previously used international sporting events as stages for attempting diplomatic breakthroughs.
Choe was part of a senior North Korean delegation that visited South Korea in October 2014, when the rivals held rare high-level talks to ease animosities during the Asian Games held in Incheon.
