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The Masikryong Ski Resort

A North Korean advance review team including Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports deputy director-general Yun Yong-bok returned home on the afternoon of Jan. 27, effectively marking the end of working-level preparations for North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the staging of inter-Korean joint events. Exchanges are now predicted to begin in earnest, starting with joint training by South and North skiers at the Masikryong Ski Resort around Jan. 31 and continuing with visits to the South and North by an estimated 800 people before the Olympic opening ceremony on Feb. 9.

“Procedures have been completed for the sending of a preliminary review team for North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics as agreed upon by the two sides at vice minister-level talks on Jan. 17, and the practical preparations have entered their final stages,” a senior Ministry of Unification official said on Jan. 28.

The official added that the “detailed implementation plan and procedures will be determined through the Panmunjeom liaison channel.”

The training at Masikryong Ski Resort is likely to be the first joint event by South and North to celebrate the Olympics. Some have raised the possibility that South Korean athletes may arrive as early as Jan. 31 for a two-day visit. The trip from Mt. Kumgang to the resort was confirmed to take three to four hours over the Donghae railway line, lending weight to predictions that the athletes will arrive by plane at Kalma Airport in Wonsan and proceed to the resort from there. With the land routes over the Gyeongui and Donghae lines and Panmunjeom opened for the Olympics, an air route between South and North may now be opened as well.

On Feb. 1, 22 North Korean athletes and 24 staffers are set to arrive in South Korea to begin final training for the Pyeongchang Olympics. This is to be followed by a joint cultural performance at Mt. Kumgang to celebrate the opening ceremony. Sources reported that North Korea has tentatively accepted the South’s suggestion to hold the performance around Feb. 4.

With the venue at the Mt. Kumgang Cultural Center boasting a capacity of around 600 seats, around 300 attendees each are expected from South and North Korea. In addition to the culture and arts figures taking part in the performance, members of the South Korean public will also be visiting to view it. The visit to Mt. Kumgang, which is the first in two years and three months since divided family reunions were held in Oct. 2015, is to be largest-scale example of inter-Korean exchange since the Moon Jae-in administration took office.

A roughly 140-member North Korean performance group is also scheduled to visit on Feb. 6 for performances at Gangneung Art Center on Feb. 8 and Haeorum Theater at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul on Feb. 11. The group is likely to consist of an 80-member orchestra, along with singers, dancers, and stage producers.

The day after the performers’ arrival, the Olympic mood is expected to reach its peak on Feb. 7 with the arrival of around 230 cheerleaders and representatives of North Korea’s Olympic Committee, a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team, and members of the press. A large-scale visit to South Korea by members of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) could take place around the same time. Radio Free Asia reported on Jan. 27 that Chongryon plans to send an initial cheering squad of 100 members to arrive in South Korea for a five-day visit on Feb. 8, the day before the opening ceremony, followed by additional squads of 40 and 30 members on Feb. 11 and 23, respectively.

The schedule for a senior North Korea delegation’s visit, as agreed upon by the two sides at high-level talks on Jan. 9, has yet to be discussed in detail. With the North postponing discussions on the issue at vice minister-level talks on Jan. 17, an announcement from Pyongyang is seen as likely to come just before the opening ceremony. If the North does decide to send Workers’ Party vice chairman Choe Ryong-hae or other key regime figures, rapid progress may be in the offing for issues related to the Korean Peninsula’s political situation.

By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter

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