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South Korean civilian delegation enters North to pay respects to Kim Jong-il

A delegation of South Korean citizens arrived in Pyongyang on Monday to express condolences over the death of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

(CNN) Seoul - The 18-member civilian delegation was led by Lee Hui-ho -- the widow of the former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at nurturing reconciliation between the two Koreas -- and Hyun Jeong-eun, the widow of Chung Mong-hun, the former chairman of Hyundai Group who pushed for heavy industrial investments in the North.

"I hope this helps improve North and South relations," Lee said in a statement read by one of her aides prior to her departure at the border.

The visit comes at a delicate point in relations between the two Koreas. The death of Kim Jong-il, announced by Pyongyang on December 19, has put the region on edge, as the world waits to see how the leadership succession will play out in the secretive regime.

Seoul has expressed its sympathy to the North Korean people and given the green light to Lee and Hyun's group to visit the North. But it has said it will not send an official delegation to pay respects to Kim Jong-il.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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