Members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party held a protest rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae on Friday to oppose a planned visit to South Korea by a top North Korean official accused of masterminding the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship.

Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, is scheduled to cross the border on Sunday for a three-day visit as the head of an eight-member delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Kim, a former top military official who headed North Korea's reconnaissance bureau, has been accused of orchestrating the torpedo attack that sank the South Korean warship Cheonan near the western sea border, killing 46 sailors.

Thursday's announcement of Kim's planned visit sparked angry reactions from the main opposition LKP and other conservative critics. They claimed that Kim should never be allowed to visit the South and must be immediately arrested if he does set foot in the South.

On Friday, about 70 LKP lawmakers held a protest in front of the presidential office, offering a moment of silence for the 46 sailors killed in the Cheonan's sinking, chanting slogans denouncing the government and calling for punishing Kim Yong-chol.

"We absolutely oppose a visit to the South by Kim Yong-chol, the main culprit of the Cheonan's sinking," Rep. Kim Sung-tae, floor leader of the LKP, said during the rally while reading a prepared statement. "Kim Yong-chol's visit should be immediately scrapped."

The party also said Kim Yong-chol is behind not only the Cheonan's sinking but also a series of other attacks on the South, including the 2010 shelling of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. Subject to South Korean and international sanctions, Kim is an "enemy of peace for all mankind," it said.

The statement also said Kim deserves "death by beating" and that inviting such a person to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics is something that "should never happen even if the sky breaks in two."

"There are things that we should do and we shouldn't. Nonetheless, if the president insists on accepting Kim Yong-chol, he should do so after announcing to the people that North Korea promised to scrap its nuclear weapons," the statement said.

"Accepting Kim Yong-chol, who should immediately be arrested as soon as he puts his foot on our land and then be court-martialed, cannot help but be seen as a display of the true colors of the pro-North Korean government," it said.

The party pledged to mobilize all possible means to block the visit.

The minor opposition Bareunmirae Party also opposed the visit.

"We clearly oppose Kim Yong-chol's visit," said Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a co-leader of the party, during a supreme council meeting. "President Moon Jae-in should never hold a meeting with Kim Yong-chol. We strongly demand that the government immediately scrap the decision to allow Kim Yong-chol's visit."

Yoo said it makes no sense for the president to meet with the main culprit of the Cheonan's sinking and that such a meeting would amount to humiliating South Korea, its armed forces and its people.

The other co-leader, Rep. Park Joo-sun, also said the government should ask the North to reconsider the decision.

"People see Kim Yong-chol as the main culprit of the Cheonan's sinking. It is too natural that people express anger," Park said. "I wonder if the government has ever asked North Korea why Kim Yong-chol (is leading the delegation) and demanded his replacement."

Park also said Kim's visit would amount to pouring cold water on the "peace Olympics."

"The government should demand North Korea reconsider the decision to send Kim Yong-chol," he said. (Yonhap)