According to South Korea's Unification Ministry,  Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state and its highest ranking official, will lead a 22-member delegation to its neighbouring country on Friday.

However, it is still unclear if the North Korea official will be attending the opening ceremony along with US Vice President Mike Pence.

Athletes from both the Korean nations will march under one flag at the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, the gesture by North Korea is viewed as a significant change by the South.

In recent years, Pyongyang has faced several tough sanctions from the EU, UN and the US, after it flouted several warning by the latter group and went ahead with its nuclear weapon testing.

Through its repeated drills, North Korea has also kept several nations on its toes, including South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the US. 

Kim Yong Nam Image: The Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation/Wikipedia