NK moot on symbolic truce, jockeys for political gains
The United Nations has adopted a symbolic 52-day Olympic truce starting seven days before the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games and lasting until seven days after the end of the Paralympics.
It was a "consensus" vote with all present ― over 150 countries in this case ― considered being in support. The North Korean delegation skipped the session and attended the one after that. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) included the North on the list of supporters together with the host country, South Korea, plus China, Russia and the United States.
Above all, it is the North's obligation to make clear whether it is in or out. If it is in, it is the right move. If not, the following are suspected risks.
First, it wouldn't rule out provocations to destabilize the world's biggest sport festival.
The North has mounted a series of nuclear and missile tests that can threaten not only the South but also China, the host of the 2022 Winter Games, Japan, the host of the 2020 Summer Games, Russia and the U.S. This is leading to worries there could be a second Korean War or a nuclear Third World War.
Pyongyang has been engaged in a verbal war with the U.S. that it is making no secret will be a target for its nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Amid this flurry of back and forth, the Korean Peninsula looks like being in the calm before the storm.
Second, the North wants to scare away the participants and ruin the global gathering.
So much so that France had already talked about staying away from the PyeongChang Olympics due to fear for the safety of its contingent. Paris has since retracted its stance and confirmed its participation.
Third, the North's act is a vendetta to weaken the U.N. sanctions including the curtailing of fuel oil supplies.
If these are its ulterior purpose, Pyongyang and its leaders are mistaken.
Now, the North should start to behave rationally and the PyeongChang Games would be where this change starts. Kim Yuna, the South's Olympic champion figure skater, captured the spirit when during her U.N. speech she recalled the epiphany of seeing the joint entry of the teams of the two Koreas at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was 10.
The North should take a cue from Kim and declare it is joining the Olympic truce and send a delegation to PyeongChang, the South Korean town near the border with the North, as suggested by President Moon Jae-in.
The North's leader Kim Jong-un should know nukes and missiles won't guarantee its survival but acting like a responsible adult would.
The United Nations has adopted a symbolic 52-day Olympic truce starting seven days before the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games and lasting until seven days after the end of the Paralympics.
It was a "consensus" vote with all present ― over 150 countries in this case ― considered being in support. The North Korean delegation skipped the session and attended the one after that. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) included the North on the list of supporters together with the host country, South Korea, plus China, Russia and the United States.
Above all, it is the North's obligation to make clear whether it is in or out. If it is in, it is the right move. If not, the following are suspected risks.
First, it wouldn't rule out provocations to destabilize the world's biggest sport festival.
The North has mounted a series of nuclear and missile tests that can threaten not only the South but also China, the host of the 2022 Winter Games, Japan, the host of the 2020 Summer Games, Russia and the U.S. This is leading to worries there could be a second Korean War or a nuclear Third World War.
Pyongyang has been engaged in a verbal war with the U.S. that it is making no secret will be a target for its nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Amid this flurry of back and forth, the Korean Peninsula looks like being in the calm before the storm.
Second, the North wants to scare away the participants and ruin the global gathering.
So much so that France had already talked about staying away from the PyeongChang Olympics due to fear for the safety of its contingent. Paris has since retracted its stance and confirmed its participation.
Third, the North's act is a vendetta to weaken the U.N. sanctions including the curtailing of fuel oil supplies.
If these are its ulterior purpose, Pyongyang and its leaders are mistaken.
Now, the North should start to behave rationally and the PyeongChang Games would be where this change starts. Kim Yuna, the South's Olympic champion figure skater, captured the spirit when during her U.N. speech she recalled the epiphany of seeing the joint entry of the teams of the two Koreas at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was 10.
The North should take a cue from Kim and declare it is joining the Olympic truce and send a delegation to PyeongChang, the South Korean town near the border with the North, as suggested by President Moon Jae-in.
The North's leader Kim Jong-un should know nukes and missiles won't guarantee its survival but acting like a responsible adult would.
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