Pence skips Olympic dinner with North Koreans

Seoul, Feb 9: US Vice-President Mike Pence on Friday skipped a dinner hosted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in at which he was due to share a table with North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-m ahead of the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Pence briefly encountered Kim but they tried to avoid directly facing each other, with Pence leaving the venue only after a five-minute stay, reported Yonhap news agency.

The top US official was origilly scheduled to sit at the head table with the South Korean host and North Korea's chief delegate to the Winter Games. Pence has brought Fred Warmbier, the father of a young American who died after being released from prison in North Korea, as a guest to South Korea. IANS