A state-run institute has predicted that North Korea may demand Seoul lift economic sanctions in return for its participation in the Winter Olympics which will be held in South Korea's Pyeongchang.
 
The Institute for National Security Strategy under the National Intelligence Service(NIS) presented the projection on Monday in its analysis of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year's speech. 

The institute said that it is rare that Kim mentioned the Winter Olympics in his New Year's speech, which hints at Pyongyang's assessment that the games are an opportunity to improve inter-Korean relations.

The institute, however, said that the North may consider its dialogue offer and participation in the games as an act of helping the South, and may demand rewards such as Seoul lifting its economic sanctions against Pyongyang, resuming inter-Korean economic cooperation and providing humanitarian aid to the North.

The report noted that North Korea demanded halting joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington and rotational deployments of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula. It said that the North may use the demands to take control in inter-Korean relations.

It also said that North Korea may engage in a provocation when Seoul and Washington conduct joint military drills after the Olympics.