ROK, US presidents discuss Korean Peninsula issue, Winter Olympics
SEOUL — Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump talked over phone about the Korean Peninsula issue and the upcoming Winter Olympics, the presidential Blue House said on Saturday.
Moon and Trump held a telephone conversation for 30 minutes on Friday night, agreeing to closely cooperate for the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games set to kick off on Feb 9 in the ROK’s eastern county of Pyeongchang.
Moon expressed his gratitude to Trump for sending a high-ranking United States delegation, including VicePresident Mike Pence, to the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics.
The ROK president said he hoped to make the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics an opportunity for the inter-Korean dialogue that would last after the Winter Olympics and contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Moon said he hoped that Pence’s attendance at the Winter Olympics could become a significant turning point for that momentum.
During the high-level interKorean talks in January, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea agreed to send its athletes and cheerleaders to the ROK-hosted winter sports event, as well as a highranking delegation.
During their phone conversations in January, Moon and Trump saw a possibility for the inter-Korean talks naturally leading to a dialogue between the DPRK and the US for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The possibility cannot be ruled out for Pence to meet with ranking DPRK officials during the Winter Olympics.
Athletes applauded
A pair of smiling DPRK skaters carried out lifts, death spirals and other difficult moves during practices ahead of the Winter Olympics, drawing applause from ROK spectators at the Gangneung Ice Arena on Saturday.
The duo, Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik, is the focus of intense media attention as they were the only DPRK athletes who were initially qualified to compete in the Pyeongchang Games before their Olympic committee missed a confirmation deadline. The International Olympic Committee later allowed them and 20 other athletes to compete in the Feb 9-25 games in special entries given to the DPRK as it worked out a set of Olympics-related rapprochement deals with the ROK.
Ryom, who turned 19 on Friday, already got the nickname “angel of smile” by some ROK media outlets, after she waved and smiled broadly when she arrived at the Gangneung athletes’ village on Thursday evening.
“I feel good,” she told reporters in brief comments after training with Kim in the second practice at the venue since their arrival in the ROK.