South Korea may lift sanctions against the North for Winter Olympics
North Korea yesterday confirmed in rare talks with the South that it would send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month.
And South Korea said it was prepared to lift some sanctions temporarily so the visit to its Games could take place.
At the first formal talks with South Korea in more than two years, North Korean officials said their delegation to the Games would consist of athletes, high-ranking officials and a cheer squad.
The talks are being closely watched by world leaders for signs of reduced tension on the Korean Peninsula. There have been rising fears over North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
South Korea has banned several North Korean officials from entry in response to Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear tests, held despite international pressure.
But some South Korean officials consider the Olympics to be a chance for easing tension.
Roh Kyu-deok, a foreign ministry spokesman, said Seoul would consider whether it needed to work with the UN Security Council and other countries to help the North Koreans visit for the Olympics.
At yesterday’s talks, the first since December 2015, Seoul proposed inter-Korean military talks and a reunion of family members in time for February’s Lunar New Year holiday, said Chun Hae-sung, the South’s vice unification minister.
Mr Chun said the North had finished technical work to restore a military hotline with South Korea, with communications set to resume today.
The North severed communications in February 2016, after the South’s decision to shut down a jointly run industrial park in the North.
Yesterday, South Korea also proposed that athletes from both sides march together at the Games’ opening ceremony and unite for other activities during the Games, Mr Chun said.
Athletes from the two Koreas have paraded together at the opening and closing ceremonies of major international games before, although this has not happened since the 2007 Asian Winter Games in China.
It would also be the first time since 2005 that the North has sent its female cheerleaders, known as the “cheering squad of beauty” by the South Korean media.
Some South Korean officials consider the Winter Olympics to be a chance for easing tension