South Korea’s Culture Minister says no country is considering opting out of the PyeongChang Olympics for safety reason, downplaying the risk of inter-Korean conflicts during the South’s first winter games.
 
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Do Jong-hwan made the remark during a meeting with reporters in New York on Tuesday afternoon, a day after he observed the adoption of a resolution of the Olympic Truce for the 2018 Games at the UN General Assembly.
 
Responding to foreign media reports that some European countries, such as France, Austria, and Germany, may not participate in the PyeongChang Games due to safety concerns, Do said he visited those countries and confirmed that that is not the case.
 
The minister said the countries were mentioning a hypothetical response over a possible conflict between the two Koreas ahead of the Olympics, and none of them were seriously considering not competing.  
 
Do also said it's possible that North Korea will take part, citing that North Korean figure skaters had already qualified to compete.