N Korean delegates arrive for pre-Games check
NORTH Korean delegates arrived in South Korea yesterday to inspect venues and prepare cultural performances for next month’s Winter Olympics, in the first visit by Pyongyang officials to the capitalist South for four years.
Footage showed seven officials led by Hyon Song-wol, the leader of the North’s popular all-female Moranbong band, crossing the heavily fortified border on a bus before arriving at Seoul train station about an hour later.
The stony-faced officials, surrounded by hundreds of Seoul police officers, then boarded a train to the eastern city of Gangneung, where one of the planned musical concerts is due to be held.
Hyon, a star singer and also the leader of the 140-member Samjiyon Orchestra chosen to visit the South, was seen leaving the train station in Gang- neung without talking throngs of journalists.
The t wo-day v isit is t he f irst by Pyong yang off icia ls to t he South since before lef t-leaning Sout h Korea n President Moon Jae-in, who advocates dialogue with the North, took of f ice last May.
The trip comes two weeks after the neighbours agreed to send Pyongyang’s athletes, cheerleaders, artistic troupes and other delegates to the Games, due to begin in the Sout h’s a l pi ne re s o r t o f Pyeongchang on February 9.
The International Olympics Committ e e o n Sa t u rd a y endorsed the deal, saying the North would send 22 athletes in sports ranging from figure skating to short-track speed skating.
The two nations also agreed to ma rch toget her at a n opening ceremony under a unification f lag – a pale blue to si l houet t e of t he Korea n Peninsula – and to form a joint women’s ice hockey team.
Under the cross-border deal, the orchestra led by Hyon will hold two concerts – one in the capital Seoul and another in Gangneung – during the Olympics.
Seoul will also send skiers to the North’s Masikryong ski resort for joint training with North Korean counterparts, and hold a joint cultural event in the scenic Mount Kumgang area north of the border, according to the deal.
Chance to defuse tension
The delegation led by Hyon will inspect venues in Gangneung yesterday and those in the capital Seoul today before returning to the North on the same day.
Another team of delegates will visit the South this week to check logistics for North Kore- an athletes, while Seoul will also send its own officials to the North’s ski resort to inspect the venue.
Seoul and organisers hope that the Games, which they have promoted as the “Peace Olympics”, could ease tensions on the peninsula that surged to new heights in recent months over the North’s nuclear standoff with the US.
Moon has tried to use the Winter Games as an opportunity to defuse tension, even asking the US to postpone an scheduled joint military exercise during the event – a request Washington accepted.
Kim Jong-un, who had remained silent to repeated calls by Seoul to take part in t h e Ol y mpi c s , a b r u p t l y announced an intention to join in his New Year address.
But the recent moves also irritated many in the South, who accused Seoul of making too many concessions to the hostile, wayward neighbour that regularly issues military threats against the South.
The deal over the unified women’s ice hockey team sparked fury in the South, where critics accused Seoul of robbing some of its own players of the opportunity to compete at the Olympics for the sake of politics.
Tens of thousands have joined online petitions on the presidency’s website urging Moon to scrap the plan.
Moon’s office yesterday said it was aware of the criticism but defended the moves as aimed at forging peace and creating a much-needed buzz over an event that has so far failed to stir much excitement.
“Only a month or two ago, the Korean peninsula was faced with unprecedented fears of war following the North’s missile and nuclear tests,” his office said, adding that many nations had questioned whether it would be safe to attend.
“But the North’s participation in the event gave us confidence that we could at least hold the event in peace,” it said in a statement, describing efforts to ensure North’s participation as an “investment for a peaceful future”.