Two days before the opening ceremony, the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will continue to be marked by political tensions with North Korea.
US Vice President Mike Pence emphasized on Wednesday in Japan that they “will not allow North Korean propaganda to take the message and symbols of Olympia hostage”. Almost simultaneously, the sister of North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un announced her visit to the Games.
For Pence, speaking at a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, North Korea’s activities around the Olympic Games are an attempt at eyewash:”We will not allow North Korea to hide behind the Olympic banner the reality that they are enslaving their people and threatening neighbouring countries,”the Republican said.
Just a few hours earlier, South Korea’s Department of Association had announced that Kim Yo Jong was the first member of the family dynasty in North Korea in 70 years to visit the games in the south of the divided country. The sister of dictator Kim Jong Un, a member of the top-class delegation of North Korean politicians, will attend the opening ceremony on Friday. She could also meet Pence there.
Kim Yo Jong was declared a member of the North Korean Workers’ Party’s Kim Jong Un-controlled power center in October. It is her first official appearance in political function. She is to travel to the Games with North Korea’s Head of State Kim Yong Nam. North Korea’s formal number one, the highest ranking representative of North Korea to date, is visiting the southern part of the peninsula.
South and North Korean athletes will march into the Olympic Stadium together behind the country’s unification flag at the opening ceremony on Friday. Last month, North Korea agreed to send 22 participants to Pyeongchang. In the women’s ice hockey tournament, a mixed team of players from both the South and North will compete as Korea.