2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games

Two Koreas Ready for Exchange of Olympic Delegates: South and North Korea have finalized the members and schedules of their delegations which will visit each other this week to prepare for the upcoming Winter Olympics. North Korea consented on Sunday to South Korea's plan to send an advance team this week to prepare for a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang and for joint training sessions of the two Koreas' ski athletes at a North Korean ski resort. Last week, the South's government proposed sending a 12-member team to the Mount Geumgang area and Masikryong Ski Resort in the North's eastern region for three days beginning Tuesday. The two Koreas plan to hold a joint cultural event in the Mount Geumgang area, and their skiers will train together at the ski compound A Unification Ministry official said Sunday that the North hoped that during the advance team's trip to the North, the two sides will hold sufficient consultations on issues discussed at the recent inter-Korean working-level talks. North Korea also notified South Korea on Sunday that it will send an advance team this week to check facilities ahead of the North's participation in the Olympics. The North said in a notice that the eight-member advance team, led by Yun Yong-bok, a deputy director general at the North's Sports Ministry, will visit South Korea for three days beginning Thursday. Yun traveled to South Korea in 2014 for such an inspection before the North joined the Incheon Asian Games.; 2018-01-22
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N. Korean Delegation Arrives in Seoul to Check Concert Venues: A North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Monday to continue inspections of possible venues for its proposed art performances during next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The seven-member delegation checked out the Jamsil Students' Gymnasium, Jangchung Gymnasium and the National Theater of Korea in Seoul and is expected to leave late at night after dinner. After wrapping up its two-day trip, the delegation will return home by crossing the inter-Korean transit office at Dorasan train station at the Gyeongui Line on the western border. The inspection team, led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, arrived in South Korea on Sunday and checked candidate venues for the upcoming performances in Gangneung. There, the advance team toured possible performance venues including the Hwang Young-jo Stadium and Gangneung Arts Center. The North plans to send a 140-member art performance group, consisting of an orchestra, singers and dancers, for two concerts - one in Seoul and one in Gangneung around the time of the Olympics. The delegation's trip was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the North abruptly canceled it late Friday without giving clear reasons and notified the South the next day that it would send the team on Sunday.; 2018-01-22
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N. Korea Notifies Plan to Send Advance Team to Check Venues for N. Korean Athletes: North Korea has notified South Korea that it will send an advance team this week to check facilities ahead of the North Korean Olympic squad's participation in the Winter Olympics next month. South Korea's Unification Ministry said that Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Reunification of the Fatherland, sent a message on Sunday to Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon that notified its plan to dispatch a team to South Korea on Thursday. The notice said that the eight-member advance team, led by a deputy director general at the North's Sports Ministry, will visit South Korea for three days beginning Thursday. The team will reportedly check the accommodations for North Korean athletes, cheering squad and reporters, as well as the venues for the opening and closing ceremonies, sports facilities and press center.; 2018-01-21
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N. Korea Accepts S. Korean Advance Team's Visit for Joint Ski Training: North Korea consented on Sunday to South Korea's plan to send an advance team this week to prepare for a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang and for joint training sessions of the two Koreas' ski athletes at a North Korean ski resort. A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said that Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the North's Committee for the Reunification of the Fatherland, sent a message to Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon that gave its approval for the delegation's visit. The official said that the North hoped that during the advance team's trip to the North, the two sides will hold sufficient consultations on issues discussed at the recent inter-Korean working-level talks. Last week, the South's government proposed sending a 12-member team to the Mount Geumgang area and Masikryong Ski Resort in the North's eastern region for three days beginning Tuesday. The two Koreas plan to hold a joint cultural event in the Mount Geumgang area, and their skiers will train together at the ski compound.; 2018-01-21
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N. Korean Delegation in S. Korea to Check Concert Venues: A North Korean delegation arrived in South Korea on Sunday to check the venues for its proposed art performances during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month. The seven-member team, led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, crossed the inter-Korean transit office at Dorasan train station of the Gyeongui Line at the western border at around 9 a.m. for a two-day trip to the South. The inspection team then arrived at Seoul Station by bus around 10:22 a.m. and boarded a KTX bullet train bound for Gangneung, 215 kilometers east of the capital. The east coast city in Gangwon Province will host some of the Winter Olympic games. The delegation will check the venues and facilities in Seoul and Gangneung where the North's art troupe will perform and discuss performance schedules and programs with South Korean officials. The delegation is scheduled to return to North Korea on Monday. The North plans to send a 140-member art performance group, consisting of an orchestra, singers and dancers, for two concerts - one each in Seoul and Gangneung around the time of the Olympics. The trip was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the North abruptly canceled it late Friday without giving clear reasons and notified the South the next day that it would send the team on Sunday.; 2018-01-21
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N. Korean Delegation in S. Korea to Prepare for Art Performance: A North Korean delegation left for Gangnueng City on the east coast of South Korea Sunday to check the venues for its proposed art performances at next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The seven-member delegation led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the North's Samjiyon Orchestra, crossed the inter-Korean transit office at the western border and arrived in Seoul earlier in the day.; 2018-01-21
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Seoul Requests N. Korea's Explanation for Canceled Visit: South Korea has asked North Korea for an explanation on why it suspended a planned visit to the South by a North Korean team to inspect venues for concerts to be held around the Olympic Games next month. Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said that a message was sent to the North via the Panmunjeom border village communications channel around 11:20 a.m. Saturday asking for the reason why the trip was cancelled. North Korea abruptly called off the scheduled visit at 10 p.m. Friday without giving an explanation. The advance team was to be led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the North's Samjiyon Orchestra. During a briefing at the Unification Ministry, Minister Cho also said that South Korea conveyed the stance that the two sides can reschedule the visit as Seoul is fully prepared for the North Korean cultural inspection team's arrival and activities in South Korea. The minister stressed that Seoul also told Pyongyang that other schedules should be carried out as agreed to including sending a South Korean advance team to the North to prepare for a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang and for joint training sessions of the two Koreas' ski athletes at a North Korean ski resort.; 2018-01-20
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Seoul Boosts Anti-Terrorism Preparations before Olympics: Anchor: South Korea is boosting its anti-terrorism preparations ahead of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games set to begin next month. While deporting high-risk individuals in the country, military and police commandos are staging drills to deal with worst-case scenarios. Kim Soyon has more. Report: With three weeks remaining before the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the South Korean government revealed it has deported 17 foreign nationals suspected of posing a terrorist threat. The National Committee on Counter-Terrorism disclosed the information on Friday during a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon. The 17, from five different countries, were deported in cooperation with the intelligence agencies of the countries concerned. The committee, however, did not unveil their names and nationalities or the details of suspicions against them, citing possible diplomatic friction with the related countries. It is, however, known that the individuals were not members of terror organizations who came into South Korea but ordinary expats in Korea who became to follow terrorist groups. While doing all it can to prevent terrorism, the South Korean military is also preparing for possible worst case scenarios. On Thursday, the South Korean military held an anti-terrorism drill in Olympic related facilities in the host city PyeongChang. Commandos responded to the hypothetical bomb threat situation with highly trained K9 sniffers and drones. After the drill, South Korean Army Colonel Hwang In-ju told reporters that the military would do its best to ensure the maximum safety for the Pyeongchang Olympics. [Sound bite: Col. Hwang In-ju - 36th Division (Korean)] "We will firmly maintain a readiness posture to make the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics the safest Olympic Games in history and do our best to ensure security until the last day of the Games." Earlier this month, security-related authorities of Seoul and Washington launched their all-out collaboration to prevent terrorists' entry into the country for before the 17-day international event. Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.; 2018-01-20
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4-Party Switzerland Meeting to Decide on N. Korea's Olympic Participation: A four-party meeting will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland Saturday to discuss North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea. Hosted by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) resident Thomas Bach, key officials from the two Korea's national Olympic committees and the PyeongChang organizing committee will finalize details related to North Korea's last minute decision to join the winter games. During the meeting at the IOC headquarters, the four sides will seek to sort out a series of technical and procedural issues such as the size of the North Korean delegates and the sport events the North can send athletes to. Ahead of the meeting, the Sion 2026 Olympics Bid Committee vice chairman Claude Stricker expressed his optimism on the North's participation. [Sound bite: Vice Chairman Claude Stricker - Sion 2026 Olympics Bid Committee (English)] "North Korea, I think it's a demonstration that the Olympic movement, the Olympic Games, the sport movement is also a tool for peace, and development of the relationships between the States. In any way, a good platform for dialogue." The meeting comes after the two Koreas agreed Wednesday to a joint marching of their athletes and the use of the unified flag of the Korean Peninsula during the opening ceremony of the Olympic games.; 2018-01-20
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N. Korea Cancels Orchestra Chief's Visit to Olympic Concert Venues: North Korea has canceled its plan to send half a dozen officials to South Korea over the weekend to check out the venues for concerts around the Olympic Games next month. Unification Ministry in Seoul said that the North informed the South on Friday night that it would be cancelling the trip without explaining why. A seven-member advanced team led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the North's Samjiyon Orchestra, was initially scheduled to cross the border on Saturday to check out the concert venues in the South. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon on Saturday held a brief news conference, saying that the government has asked the North to clarify the reasons for canceling the visit. While sending the inquiry via the liaison office at the truce village, the South also told the North that it is prepared to assist the North Korean advanced team and the two sides can rearrange another trip. During working-level inter-Korean talks on Monday, North Korea had agreed to send a 140-member art troupe, including an orchestra, singers and dancers, to the South to stage concerts in Seoul and in the PyeongChang-Gangnueng region, where the Winter Games will be held.; 2018-01-20
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