Launch complicates Olympic preparations in S. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — Just when South Korea thought it was finally creating a buzz for February’s Winter Olympics, North Korea fired its most powerful missile yet and re-ignited safety worries about the small mountain town that will host the Games not far from the rivals’ border.

The Pyeongchang Olympics probably aren’t in jeopardy because of Wednesday’s launch for a number of reasons, including that the North is unlikely to attack the more powerful, U.S.-backed South. Despite its belligerent neighbour, South Korea is also one of the safest places in the world, with a wealth of experience hosting international sporting events.

Still, the launch, which followed a 10-week lull, was a frustrating development for Pyeongchang’s organizers, who have only recently got on track after facing construction delays, controversies over cost overruns and wary sponsors. They can also do little to calm international fears created by North Korea’s accelerating nuclear weapons and missile tests.

Shortly after North Korea fired the Hwasong-15 into the sea Wednesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in convened a national security meeting where he ordered government officials to closely review whether the launch could hurt South Korea’s efforts to successfully host the Olympics, which begin on Feb. 9.

South Korea wants more than a million spectators for the Olympics, which will be held just 80 kilometres from the border, and expects 30 per cent of them to be foreign visitors. Organizers have struggled for months to spark enthusiasm for the Games locally, where the national conversation over the past year has been dominated by a massive corruption scandal that toppled and jailed the last president and North Korea’s flurry of weapons tests.

Sung Baikyou, an official from Pyeongchang’s organizing committee, on Thursday downplayed worries that North Korea would scare away athletes and visitors to Pyeongchang.

Organizers and government officials have held briefings and site inspections for Olympics officials, members and sponsors to reassure them of South Korea’s security readiness.

The 92 nations that have so far registered to participate in the Pyeongchang Games, including Canada, represent the largest ever Winter Olympics field. And after a slow start, organizers had managed to sell more than half of the available tickets by the end of November.

Sung said there hasn’t been any talk with the International Olympic Committee about moving or cancelling the games.

“It wouldn’t make sense for anyone to cancel tickets to Pyeongchang because of fears about North Korea,” Sung said.

But there’s nothing organizers can do if North Korea raises fears even higher with more tests. North Korea has conducted 20 ballistic missile launches just this year, and the tests are becoming increasingly aggressive; some in the South fear that Washington might consider a pre-emptive strike on the North as the intercontinental ballistic missile tested Wednesday might be able to reach anywhere in the continental United States.