With Winter Olympics Starting, North and South Korea Are Playing Nice… for Now
Beginning with the Opening Ceremonies two nights ago, the eyes of the world are on South Korea.
The U.S. ally is hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics. If you prefer official names, it’s called the XXIII Olympic Winter Games.
And for those who prefer more common names, we can call it PyeongChang 2018. That’s assuming we can pronounce “PyeongChang.” It’s a county in the Gangwon Province of South Korea.
Whatever you call it, the international, multi-sport event will run through February 25. This marks the second time South Korea has hosted the Olympics. The first was the 1988 Summer Games.
Kim Jong-Un Has Been Eerily Silent
Over the past few months, I’ve wondered what North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un might do to take some of the attention away from his enemy to the south during the Olympics.
After all, he has made no secret about his nuclear ambitions. And he has seized many opportunities to threaten South Korea, Japan and the United States.
With his closest nemesis receiving global attention, will he use this platform to make nice? Or will he step up his threats?
So far, he’s been pretty quiet. A little too quiet, you might say. I have to wonder what he might have up his sleeve.
Olympics Brings North Koreans to the South
A North Korean delegation that includes some 230 members of a state-trained cheering group arrived in PyeongChang the other day.
The entourage also includes officials from North Korea’s Olympic committee, journalists, and a taekwondo demonstration team.
Several days ago, a 140-member art troupe arrived in South Korea. They performed in Gangneung on Thursday and will perform today in Seoul.
Twenty-two North Korean athletes will compete in sports such as ice hockey, figure skating, short-track speed skating, cross-country skiing and Alpine skiing.
Buddy-Buddy Approach Unpopular in South
So, there are now close to 500 North Koreans in South Korea. I wonder how many of them would like to stay there when it’s time to go home.
Normally, South Korea allows defectors to remain. But South Korean President Moon Jae-in knows doing that during the Olympics would cause extreme embarrassment to Kim Jong-Un. And he’s not a guy you want to embarrass.
During the ceremonies, the two countries marched under a united flag. And they will field a mutual team in ice hockey. But technically, these two countries are still at war.
And many South Koreans are not pleased with the buddy-buddy approach the South Korean government is taking with North Korea right now. In fact, Moon Jae-in’s approval rating has dropped to a record-low recently.
U.S. Not Pretending All Is Well
But just because North Korea and South Korea might pretend to get along for a couple of weeks, that doesn’t mean North Korea and the U.S. will follow suit.
During President Trump’s recent State of the Union address, he said, “No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea.”
He added, “Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this dangerous position.”
Vice President Mike Pence planned to take the father of the late Otto Warmbier to the Opening Ceremonies. The young man died recently, shortly after his release from a North Korean prison. His parents said he was tortured there.
When Olympics End… Look Out!
It will be very interesting to see if hostile rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea becomes part of the Olympics story.
But regardless, we know one thing for sure. It’s certain to heat up once the Games come to an end.
One week the North is shooting ballistic missiles at it’s neighbors and testing nukes….the next week they are the toast of the Olympics ????? WTF ?????
All the while they are STILL at WAR and under no more than a cease fire…..WE ALL ARE BEING PLAYED LIKE IDIOTS !!!!!
Now we learn that North Korea got to go compete at the Olympics for FREE…YES FREE !!!!!
Seems the South Koreans AND The Olympic Committee paid the WHOLE TAB for the entire
COMMUNIST MURDERERS ENTOURAGE to show up !!!! Gave them $$$MILLIONS to parade around on the world stage while they let the MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA become the latest media darling ????? JUST WHO’S SIDE ARE THEY ON ANYWAY ?????? WHAT SANCTIONS ???? BLACKMAIL TO TERRORISTS PAID ???? GOD HELP US WITH THESE IDIOTS……..hope they sent them Valentine cards and flowers too…..?
INSANE !!
My biggest fear about the Olympics in South Korea is how many of the North Korean delegation are spies, terrorist, etc. and not athletes.
It must be horrible to live there but that government needs to be exterminated!!! All the soldiers and US citizens killed buy them since the Korean war deserve nothing less.
The U. S. had better keep up with what is going on .North Korea will try his best to get So. Korea to go along with his idea of uniting to try to overtake us and other countries. I don’t trust them. Kim Jong-Un. is spoiled and was overindulged while growing up I bet and it shows now that he got into power. God help us….
I am a retired career Army National Guardsmen, who participated in Operations Team Spirit in 1989 and 1990. Korean families have relatives on both sides of the DMZ. Politically ROK grows more liberal each election. I believe there are still hopes among them for a united Korea. The Koreans guard their pure blood line and reject their own citizens born from mixed races. Their pride in this pure race is one of the uniting factors . Also, religion remains strong for Spirit worship. Even those embracing Christanity, still often participate in their ancesteral Spirit Worship. There are many other uniting factors. The Americans in ROK have limited acceptance, much to do with money. A lot of American blood is in that soil. But, I question their loyalty to USA.
Since there was a vote of 4 to 4 for Hamlin and Davis, there should be two flag bearers at the Olympics. That would be the appropriate decision.