Korean winter games

Great sporting events are political. Much as athletes, footballers, swimmers and the rest would like to think that international tournaments are merely an opportunity for them to demonstrate their prowess, they can also be used for purposes of diplomacy or realpolitik. The 1936 Berlin Olympics were a shop-window for Nazi Germany. The 1980 Moscow Olympics were boycotted by the Americans in protest at the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Soviets duly kept their team and those of their eastern European satellites away from Los Angeles in 1984.

Such events can also build bridges. Late last year, the stand-off between the two Koreas over Kim Jong-un’s nuclear programme seemed to bring the peninsula close to war, and the tensions have not disappeared. Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, warned last night that Pyongyang could be preparing for another missile test and reiterated that the US would not accept a nuclear North. Yet the fact that the Winter Olympics is taking place in South Korea next month has opened a window to a possible rapprochement. Kim’s regime said it is willing to hold talks with officials in Seoul about participating in the Games.

Talks are due to be held next week, both to discuss the North sending a delegation and a general de-escalation of tension. South Korea’s president sees the Pyeongchang Games as a “ground-breaking chance to improve South-north relations and establish peace”. His optimism may be misplaced, with the North attaching unacceptable conditions or continuing with its provocations regardless. Yet if the Games can help to reduce the risk of a conflict, then the investment in new ski slopes will have been worth it.