Around 70 lawmakers from the conservative Liberty Korea Party protested outside the Blue House, home to their nation's president, urging President Moon Jae-in to cancel the visit.
"Kim Yong Chol is a diabolical war criminal who attacked the South… He deserves death by hanging in the street," the party's parliamentary leader Kim Sung-tae stated, as quoted by the AFP.
"Even if the heavens split in two, we cannot allow such a heinous criminal — who must be sliced to death — to be invited to the Olympics closing ceremony," he added.
The corvette sank near the island of Pennjo in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 crew members. The International Commission of Inquiry concluded that the ship was sunk by a North Korean Navy submarine. Pyongyang categorically rejected all the charges.
Earlier, on February 22, it was reported that North Korea spent about 240 million won (more than 220 thousand dollars) on the delegation's visit to the opening of the Olympics.