The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was keen for North Korean athletes to participate at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In order to increase their chances of qualification, the IOC offered to support them with equipment, accommodation, and travel to qualification events.[6]
Similarly, South Korea had suggested that North Korea could co-host some of the skiing events at the Masikryong Ski Resort. This suggestion came after Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea in 2017. Earlier in December 2014, the organizers had denied the possibility of sharing any part of their bid with the North.[9] Like the unified team proposal, the new co-hosting proposal was refused by the North.[10] North Korea, however, supported South Korea's Olympic bid for the 2018 Games.[11] This was unlike in 1988, when North Korea was willing to co-host the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but once those plans had failed, it instead boycotted the Games and orchestrated the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858, in what is believed to have been an attempt to sabotage the Games.[12]
The qualification was seen as a positive development, since it could alleviate fears of the escalation of the 2017–18 North Korea crisis that might have otherwise jeopardized the Games.[6]
The International Skating Union confirmed Ryom and Kim's qualification, but the North Korean National Olympic Committee still needed to approve their participation.[6]Chang Ung, a North Korean member of the IOC, said he found this likely,[15] adding: "I am quite sure that politics is one thing and Olympics is another thing. So I don't see any big problem for the Pyeongchang Olympics."[8] Despite this, the North Korean NOC failed to accept the two athletes by the deadline of 30 October.[16]
Failure to enter athletes
When the North Korean NOC failed to enter its only qualified athletes to the Games, North Korea's participation remained uncertain.[16] The North Korean spot went to the runners up, Sumire Suto and Francis Boudreau-Audet representing Japan.[17] They needed to accept the spot by 21 December 2017, which did not happen.[7] North Korea could still have requested its quota be confirmed, in which case the IOC would have deliberated on the matter. An IOC spokesperson stated, "[W]e would of course be flexible if they expressed a desire to come."[16] A wild card option remained on the table.[7]
Organizers of the Games did not expect the final decision on North Korea's participation to be made until the very last opportunity,[18] and Moon Jae-in had given North Korea the chance to make the decision at any time before the start of the Games.[6]
High-level talks
The impasse ended when North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un signaled in his New Year's speech for 2018, a possibility of sending athletes to the Games after all, saying "North Korea's participation in the Winter Games will be a good opportunity to showcase the national pride and we wish the Games will be a success. Officials from the two Koreas may urgently meet to discuss the possibility".[19] The announcement was followed by South Korean agreement to participate in the first high-level talks with the North since December 2015; the talks were scheduled for 9 January 2018.[20] North Korea was also prepared to talk to the IOC that week.[21] In preparation for the North–South talks, the two countries restored the Seoul–Pyongyang hotline, which had been inactive for almost two years,[22] and exchanged related documents via fax.[20] After these developments, North Korea's IOC member Chang Ung said that the participation of North Korean figure skaters again looked likely.[23] After the discussions on 9 January 2018, North Korea announced that they would send athletes to compete along with a delegation to attend the Winter Olympics.[2]
These moves were met with public opposition in South Korea, including protests and online petitions; critics argued that the government was attempting to use the Olympics to spread pro-North Korean sentiment, and that the idea of a unified hockey team was ill-conceived.[24] A rap video entitled "The Regret for Pyeongchang" (평창유감), echoing this criticism and labeling the event the "Pyongyang Olympics", went viral in the country.[25] Japan's foreign affairs ministerTarō Kōno warned South Korea to be wary of North Korea's "charm offensive", and not to ease its pressure on the country.[26][27]
As well as the athletes, North Korea sent an unprecedented high-level delegation, headed by Kim Yo-jong (sister of the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un) and President Kim Yong-nam, and including performers like the Samjiyon Orchestra.[30] The delegation handed over an invitation to the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, to visit North Korea.[30]
President Moon shook hands with Kim Yo-jong at the start of the Olympics. This was the first time since the Korean War that a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had visited South Korea.[31][32] In contrast, US Vice President Mike Pence met North Korean defectors in PyeongChang joined by Fred Warmbier, whose son Otto died the year before after being released from North Korean captivity.[33] American officials said that North Korea canceled a meeting with Pence at the last minute.[34]
The apparent softening of relations between the two countries was marred by North Korea dispatching general Kim Yong-chol to head the North Korean delegation present at the closing ceremony. The arrival of Kim, held responsible by South Korea for the deaths of dozens of South Korean navy personnel, was met with hostility but the government did not oppose his presence at the Olympics. The general ended up being seated in the same stand as Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the US president.[35]
In January 2018, it was announced that the North Korean team would be amalgamated with a group of South Korean players to form a single Korean team in the women's ice hockey tournament. In this unified team, at least three North Korean players were to be selected for each game.[43] The South Korea women's national ice hockey team qualified as the host.[44]
^North Korea did not march as a separate country at the Parade of Nations. The North Korean delegates joined with those from South Korea to participate in the opening ceremony as "Korea". The flagbearers of the unified Korea team were North Korean ice hockey player Hwang Chung-gum and South Korean bobsleigher Won Yun-jong.[1]
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