Pence out to highlight N. Korea threat
Vice president downplays improved ties with South
TOKYO — Vice President Mike Pence is 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.
Making his way to Pyeongchang to lead the U.S. delegation to Friday’s opening ceremonies, 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 Wednesday after meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
Pence arrives in Seoul on Thursday for 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.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Wednesday that Pence is “quite capable of making the call” on whether to meet with North Korean officials at the Olympics.
Asked if war with North Korea is closer than when Trump took office a year ago, Mattis said U.S. policy is “firmly in the diplomatic lane,” as shown by agreement among world powers to increase sanctions.
He added that the policy is backed by “viable military options.”