President Moon Jae-in speaks during the “Pyeongchang 2018 at the Met: Celebrating the Winter Olympic Games for Peace” event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Sept. 20. (Blue House Photo Pool)
President Moon Jae-in speaks during the “Pyeongchang 2018 at the Met: Celebrating the Winter Olympic Games for Peace” event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Sept. 20. (Blue House Photo Pool)

Even though North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile provocations and the rising tensions between North Korea and the US have made the situation around the Korean Peninsula more fraught, high ranking officials in the South Korean government say the North is likely to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February of next year. It will be interesting to see whether the Pyeongchang Olympics will turn out to be more than a mere sporting event and serve as a catalyst for easing the heightened tensions around the peninsula.

“My understanding is that Chang Ung, North Korea’s representative on the IOC [International Olympic Committee], said that the North intends to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics,” one official told the Hankyoreh on Oct. 13. This source said that “there will be an official announcement from the government before long” but did not specify when or in what manner Chang had communicated the North’s intentions.

“While I can’t reveal the channels yet, I understand that the IOC told us that progress is being made on the issue of North Korea participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics. In light of a number of facts and circumstances, we don’t doubt North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics,” said another senior Blue House official.

“During US President Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea and his summit with President Moon Jae-in at the beginning of next month, some kind of symbolic measures will be taken that will be different from the mood thus far,” the official said, while offering several reasons that North Korea is likely to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics.

First of all, the official pointed out, since North Korea has actively participated in the qualifying rounds for the Pyeongchang Olympics and has secured the right to compete in the finals in several categories, including figure skating, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics. Another consideration is that North Korea has in the past actively participated in sporting events where it can be treated as a member of the international community. The official also drew attention to the enthusiastic attitude of IOC President Thomas Bach.

“As a German, Bach understands better than anyone else the issue of national division and our struggle to use the Olympics as a stage for peace and harmony. He is being so proactive that we hardly need to ask for his cooperation,” the official said.

The South Korean government’s official position remains that it has “no information.”

“Information related to North Korea’s participation is being shared with us in real time by the IOC, and there hasn’t been anything about that yet. But since Chang Ung has said that sports and politics are separate things, I think their attitude may have changed, which would improve the prospects,” said Roh Tae-gang, second vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (the ministry in charge of the Pyeonchang Olympics), during a phone call with the Hankyoreh.

North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok (18) and Kim Ju-sik (25) qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang following their performance at the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy
North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok (18) and Kim Ju-sik (25) qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang following their performance at the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy

By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter

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