Cold water poured
As the Koreas join up for Olympics, Pence says ‘toughest sanctions’ planned
North Korea says it is not interested in meeting US Vice-President Mike Pence while he is in South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Pyongyang is sending a senior delegation — including Kim Jong Un’s younger sister — and rumours had circulated such a meeting could be in the works. A top Foreign Ministry official seemed to rule that out in comments carried by the North’s state-run media.
“We have no intention to meet with the US side during the stay in South Korea,” the official was quoted as saying. “We are not going to use such sports festival as the Winter Olympics as a political lever. There is no need to do so.”
Pence was scheduled to arrive in South Korea from Japan last night. Even before he arrived Pence was pouring cold water on the warming ties between North and South Korea just as the two still-warring countries are joining up to compete together in the Winter Olympics.
Pence has embarked on a set of symbolic visits designed to draw attention to the North’s terrible human rights record and nuclear aggression. With determined rhetoric — and the promise of more “aggressive” economic sanctions against the North — Pence is looking to refocus American allies on the North Korean threat.
“We will not allow North Korea to hide behind the Olympic banner the reality that they enslave their people and threaten the wider region,” Pence said after meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
Pence will hold meetings with President Moon Jae In just as South Korea seizes on the games for a diplomatic opening with the North, including the first visit of North Korea’s ruling family since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Aides say the Vice-President is advancing a counter message, using the games as an opportunity for the South and the broader international community to exert what President Donald Trump has termed “maximum pressure” against the North.
Pence announced that the US would unveil in coming days “the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever”.
“We will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games,” Pence said.
He pointed out that the two nations had marched under the same banner before, only to see “North Korea continue its pursuit of threats and provocation.”
Pence’s strenuous efforts present a dilemma for Moon. The South Korean leader has long advocated engagement with Pyongyang and sees the Olympics as an opportunity to quell tensions that have escalated over its nuclear programme. He has limited room to manoeuvre as his guest from Washington strongly criticises the North and emphasises the need to crank up the pressure campaign.
The rogue state was expected to further strain relations by putting on a military parade last night in a show of strength to rival the spectacle of South Korea’s opening ceremony. Kim was expected to showcase hundreds of missiles as a propaganda tool to stir patriotic pride at home as well as demonstrating to the world the progress of his nuclear weapons programme.
US officials declined to offer details on the expected new sanctions beyond Pence’s comments, citing concerns that any additional information could be used by those trying to skirt the new measures. They are expected to be implemented before the conclusion of the games.
North Korea already is facing unprecedented sanctions after three UN Security Council restrictions in the past year that have slashed the pariah nation’s export revenue and capped fuel imports. Unilaterally, the US has also targeted North Korean shipping companies and Chinese trading networks. A potential escalation of sanctions could be the US blacklisting Chinese banks accused of providing