[News analysis] Will South and North Korea field unified team at Pyeongchang Olympics?

Posted on : 2017-06-26 16:09 KST Modified on : 2017-06-26 16:09 KST
President Moon’s proposal would take non-political issue of sports as a starting point for restoring inter-Korean relations
A North Korean demonstration team performs during the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju
A North Korean demonstration team performs during the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju

During the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, North Jeolla Province, on June 24, President Moon Jae-in proposed sending a unified Korean team to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next year. The proposal appears to be an attempt to use sports, a non-political issue, to open up inter-Korean relations, which have been strained despite the appearance of a new South Korean administration. It remains to be seen whether the door to dialogue will open, depending on how North Korea responds and on whether a unified team takes shape.

Moon’s proposal for a unified team was made at a time when there is an urgent need for someone to prime the pump for inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. Even since Moon’s inauguration as president on May 10, North and South Korea have remained unable to move any closer to dialogue. The much-anticipated June 15 Joint Event had to be held separately by the two sides after they failed to narrow their differences, and the interactions proposed by South Korean civic groups were mostly rejected by North Korea. Moon’s choice of the indirect route of sports exchange also appears to have been influenced by the belief that humanitarian aid for North Korea, which has conventionally paved the way for improving inter-Korean relations, is not as effective as it once was. Not only is North Korea less interested in “emergency relief,” but such aid could be attacked, as it often has been before, for being overgenerous and unconditional.

There are numerous examples of countries with awkward international relations who turned to sports exchange to set the mood for launching an attempt to improve relations. One well-known example is how “ping-pong diplomacy” between the US and China in the early 1970s served as a bridge to officially reestablishing diplomatic ties in 1979. Examples of such sports exchange can also be found in inter-Korean relations: the creation of a single Korean team for the World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba and the FIFA World Youth Championship in Lisbon in 1991 led to cooperation in the areas of politics and the military, including the adoption of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement. If a demonstration team from the South Korea-led World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is able to attend the championships of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) in Pyongyang this September, as Moon said during the opening ceremony that he hopes will happen, taekwondo could naturally lead the way to visits between North and South Korea.

 on June 24. (Yonhap News)
on June 24. (Yonhap News)

Any discussion about sending a unified team to the Pyeongchang Olympics would likely need to be arranged or mediated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This would do more to attract the interest, approval and support of the international community than an inter-Korean event. Given the tough sanctions that North Korea is facing, a friendly attitude from the international community could be an important asset for Seoul as it tries to open the door for inter-Korean exchange. Furthermore, International Olympic Committee Chairman Thomas Bach, as a German, himself experienced a country that was divided and reunified, and thus he is likely to be more amenable to inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. And if discussion about organizing a unified inter-Korean team gained some momentum, there would be more opportunities for senior officials from both sides to visit each other for deliberations, both in public and behind closed doors, which would likely play a considerable role in restoring inter-Korean relations.

The problem is North Korea’s attitude. For now, it would be rash to predict how North Korea will respond. During a luncheon with Minjoo Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok and others on June 25, North Korean IOC member Chang Ung reportedly responded cautiously to Moon’s proposal for a unified team. “We’ll have to see what decision is made in North Korea about its final entry,” Ahn quoted Chang as saying. When reporters asked Chang about the organization of a unified Olympic team after he arrived at Gimpo Airport on June 23, he said that he was “not in a position to discuss that.” Rather than immediately welcoming the idea, Chang seemed to be prudently avoiding a direct response.

 North Jeolla Province
North Jeolla Province

That said, it’s too early to conclude that North Korea is opposed to the organization of a unified team. During the initial phase of setting the agenda for inter-Korean relations, there has often been a disagreement between South Korea‘s desire to begin with exchange on the easy non-political issues and North Korea’s preference to start by resolving urgent political and military issues. Even after Moon Jae-in became president last month, North Korea has rejected private-sector exchange and has demanded that the South Korea-US joint military exercises be suspended, that the distribution of propaganda pamphlets be halted and that the group of employees at a restaurant in China who defected to South Korea be repatriated to the North.

Chang‘s cautious response can be seen as reflecting the battle of nerves that is taking place between North and South Korea. “Currently, North Korea is in a sort of testing phase, where it’s sounding out the Moon administration’s resolve for and intentions concerning inter-Korean dialogue,” said Korea National Strategy Institute director Kim Chang-soo. “Since there’s still time before the Pyeongchang Olympics next February, North Korea is likely to wait for the results of the South Korea-US summit at the end of this month and to watch the subsequent actions of the Moon administration before making its decision, rather than deciding to reject it right away. Another big question is how effectively major upcoming events such as the Aug. 15 Liberation Day address and the 10th anniversary of the Oct. 4 Inter-Korean Joint Statement can be taken advantage of.

A self-defense demonstration by a North Korean team at the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju
A self-defense demonstration by a North Korean team at the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer, and Lee Jung-ae, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)