Let the Games of hope begin

It’s better to play games than fight wars.

This is especially true when one of the players is North Korea, an otherwise reclusive, belligerent nuclear power that spent much of 2017 stumbling ever closer into a catastrophic military confrontation with the United States.

Every time North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gleefully fired off another intercontinental ballistic missile, every time he promised to rain fire and brimstone on his mortal enemy, America, and then, when he tested another nuclear weapon, the response from U.S. President Donald Trump was almost as frightening and bizarre.

Just days ago, the American commander-in-chief typically warned Kim — whom he had previously called “little rocket man” — that Trump’s “nuclear button” is “much bigger and more powerful” than Kim’s — “and my button works.”

With such blind brinkmanship, it was not surprising, though it was terrifying, to hear Richard Haas, of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, estimate the chances of war in Northeast Asia are 50 per cent.

The reality and magnitude of this threat to humanity explains why it was such a huge relief this week when North Korea accepted an invitation from South Korea to join in its Winter Olympics next month.

This breakthrough — and it was a breakthrough — came during rare talks between North and South Korea on the border between the two countries.

North Korea encouraged this meeting with a warm, New Year’s message to the South. That was followed by the postponement of U.S.-led military exercises in the region with South Korea.

It was predictable, if disappointing, that North Korea refused this week to discuss its nuclear ambitions.

Moreover, North Korea’s athletic team will be one of the smallest at the Games in Pyeongchang. It will likely consist of just two figure skaters.

Perhaps North Korea’s engagement with the international community will lead to more contact and new relationships. Perhaps it won’t.

Yet any hint of détente is preferable to the risky status quo.

Communication beats isolation just as hope beats resignation. And the Olympics are designed to bring people together.

The summit on North Korea that Canada co-hosts with the U.S. in Vancouver next week provides another opportunity to advance the cause of peace.

Some observers suggest this meeting — which will include the countries that fought under the United Nations flag during the Korean War — is irrelevant after the talks between the North and South.

But the world is a long way from defusing the nuclear powder keg on the Korean Peninsula.

The Vancouver summit allows the American administration to explore diplomatic options that go beyond Trump’s crude and provocative tweets.

Whether it was the latest economic sanctions imposed on North Korea that led to Kim’s olive branch or even, as South Korean president Moon Jae-in suggested, the bombastic Trump, it would be wise for the international community to hold the applause until the day North Korea reins in its nuclear program.

For now, however, we can take some comfort from the political thaw that takes place at these Winter Games.