2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games

US Confident in Olympics Security Despite N. Korea Tensions: The U.S. State Department says that the U.S. is confident that South Korea will host a safe and successful Winter Olympics despite tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Steve Goldstein, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that South Korean authorities are responsible for the overall security of the games and they are world-class experts who hosted major sporting events like the 2002 World Cup and the 2014 Asian Games. Goldstein said that the U.S. and South Korea have been working together for more than two years on the security of the event and that U.S. citizens traveling to the country can be confident about safety conditions. Michael Evanoff, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, also said that the U.S. has planned for all contingencies.; 2018-02-01
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IOC Chief Checks PyeongChang Athletes' Village: International Olympic Committee(IOC) President Thomas Bach has toured the PyeongChang athletes' village ahead of the start of the Winter Games in South Korea. Bach visited the village Wednesday and checked on facilities on his second day in the country. Yoo Seung-min, a South Korean member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission who accompanied Bach, said the IOC chief expressed satisfaction with the facilities as well as a variety of the menu items served at the restaurants there. The athletes’ village was built on 41-thousand-970 square meters of land in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. It consists of 600 residential units in eight 15-story buildings and can accommodate up to three-thousand-894 athletes.; 2018-01-31
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Pro-Pyongyang Newspaper Blasts S. Korean Criticism over Military Parade: A pro-North Korean newspaper published in Japan has criticized the government and a conservative circle in the South over taking issue with an upcoming military parade to be held in the North. The Choson Sinbo said on Wednesday that conservative South Korean media and right-wing politicians have made absurd remarks about the February eighth parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North Korean army. The newspaper said the South’s criticism of a celebratory event in the North is aimed at dampening the improved relations between the two Koreas, which it said were created thanks to the North’s generosity and initiatives. It then said the North’s cancellation of a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang scheduled to be held this Sunday was a warning to the South over the repercussions of such criticism. The newspaper also accused the South Korean government of sympathizing with the conservative voices, mentioning a recent remark by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon that the North Korean military parade will likely be "very threatening."; 2018-01-31
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Inter-Korean Ski Training Proceeds as Scheduled: Anchor: A South Korean delegation arrived in North Korea on a chartered plane Wednesday to take part in a joint ski training session. The planned trip had been in doubt after the North cancelled a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang earlier this week. Our Park Jong-hong has this report. Report: A South Korean delegation took a chartered plane to North Korea on Wednesday to take part in a joint ski training session. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said early Wednesday that a chartered plane would depart from Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province bound for Kalma Airport in North Korea’s eastern city of Wonsan. The delegation includes 31 skiers and coaches, as well as about a dozen support staff and pool reporters. During their two-day trip, the group will inspect the ski course and take part in alpine skiing and cross-country skiing friendly competitions. The joint ski training session was arranged earlier this month, but confirmation of the event had been delayed until Wednesday morning due to pending consultations between Seoul and Washington over U.S. sanctions against the North. Last September, the Trump administration announced a set of sanctions that include banning vessels and aircraft that have visited North Korea from entering the U.S. within 180 days. Seoul has asserted that its push for inter-Korean sports and cultural activities would not undermine the international community’s sanctions. Skeptics say that the Kim Jong-un regime is only seeking to improve ties with the South by participating in the upcoming Winter Olympics in a bid to get the sanctions relaxed. In response to such concerns, the ministry said it is mindful of the worries and added it will closely cooperate with neighboring countries. Earlier this week, the North notified the South that it is calling off a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang scheduled for this Sunday. North Korea experts said it was in protest against media reports critical of a planned military parade in the North on the eve of the Olympics. Park Jong-hong KBS World Radio News.; 2018-01-31
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Moon's Adviser: S. Korea Can Use PyeongChang Olympics, as N. Korea Does: President Moon Jae-in’s special security adviser says South Korea can utilize North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as much as the North does. At a lecture in Paris on Monday, Moon Chung-in, presidential special adviser on foreign affairs and national security, addressed criticism in South Korea and beyond that the North is using the Olympics for its own ends. However, he said the South can also use the occasion in its own way. He said President Moon’s friendly gesture toward the North is because he wants to make PyeongChang an Olympics of peace, adding the president’s biggest goal is peace on the Korean Peninsula and unification. He said if the South treats the North not as a rogue state, but as a normal nation, it could prompt the North to change its ways. He said conducting joint training sessions at the North’s Masikryong Ski Resort is also one way of building trust with the North.; 2018-01-30
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Seoul Expresses Regret over Canceled Event by N. Korea: Seoul's Unification Ministry says that South Korea has sent a telephone message to North Korea and expressed regret for Pyongyang's cancellation of a joint cultural event scheduled to be held at the North's Mount Geumgang on Sunday. A ministry official told reporters that the government also said that inter-Korean agreements must be implemented by all means based on the spirit of mutual understanding and respect as the two Koreas have taken the first difficult step to improve relations. The official said the South also conveyed to the North that all agreed events should be carried out as planned as the two sides have agreed to cooperate for the success of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. The message signed by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon was sent around noon Tuesday to Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a state agency handling inter-Korean affairs. North Korea abruptly called off the scheduled joint event on Monday night after taking issue with South Korean media reports.; 2018-01-30
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IOC Head Arrives in S. Korea for PyeongChang Olympics: International Olympic Committee(IOC) President Thomas Bach has arrived in South Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that will open next Friday. The IOC chief touched down at South Korea's Incheon International Airport on Tuesday morning where he boarded a KTX bullet train headed to the Olympics' sub-host city of Gangneung before making his way to Pyeongchang. Before the Winter Games begin, Bach will hold an IOC Executive Board meeting on Saturday and Sunday and then the IOC's 132nd Session for two days starting from next Tuesday. He will also check on preparations for the event while touring athletes' villages and various venues located in Gangneung and Pyeongchang. Earlier this month, Bach announced that the IOC will accept North Korean athletes in the PyeongChang Winter Games after chairing a four-party meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.; 2018-01-30
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IPC Approves Joint Entrance, Unified Korea Flag at Paralympics: South and North Korean Paralympic athletes will make a joint entrance under a unified Korea flag for the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics set for March 9th. The governing board of the International Paralympic Committee(IPC) approved the joint entrance and the unified flag during a meeting on Monday in Bonn, Germany. An official from South Korea's Korea Paralympic Committee(KPC) said on Monday that the IPC board allowed two North Korean athletes and six officials to participate in the PyeongChang Paralympics. Further details will likely be decided after working-level discussions between the two Koreas. Two North Korean para skiers -- Ma Yu-chol and Kim Jong-hyon -- recently completed their registration to the IPC to make their debut at the upcoming Winter Paralympics.; 2018-01-30
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Moon to Engage in Summit Diplomacy at PyeongChang Olympics: President Moon Jae-in is expected to engage in summit diplomacy during the PyeongChang Olympics with world leaders visiting South Korea for the Winter Games. According to the presidential office on Monday, 26 top-level officials from 21 nations will visit Korea during the Olympic period. The list includes Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Han Zheng, a member of China's Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee. President Moon will host a reception for the foreign guests on February ninth before the opening ceremony begins. He will also hold bilateral talks with 14 head of state-level officials during the Olympic period. The Japanese leader particularly stands out from the guest list. Japanese media earlier reported that Seoul and Tokyo were arranging summit talks to be held in Pyeongchang on the opening day of the Olympics.; 2018-01-29
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Expressways to PyeongChang to Go Toll-Free During Lunar New Year Holidays: Eight expressways to venues for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics are set to go toll-free during the Lunar New Year holidays next month. The decision was made on Monday during a meeting of the government, the ruling Democratic Party and the presidential office at the party's headquarters in Seoul. The ruling camp also decided to consider introducing a special no-visa entry for Chinese tourists who purchase a ticket to the Olympics worth over 200-thousand won. It will also mull a temporary visa waiver program for group travelers entering South Korea from Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The travelers will be allowed to stay up to 15 days in South Korea without a visa.; 2018-01-29
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