Olympic missions break ice in Korea

SOUTH Korea’s president yesterday said he was open to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he vowed to push for more talks with the North on the nuclear standoff.

President Moon Jae-in spoke of a potential summit a day after the two Koreas held their first high-level meeting in about two years and agreed to co-operate in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. They agreed the North would send a delegation to the February 9-25 Games and planned to talk later on reducing tensions along their border.

“I keep myself open to any meeting … if it’s helpful for an improvement of South-North relations or a settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue,” Mr Moon said.

He described the North’s Olympic participation as “very desirable”, saying he will push for more talks.

The accord was reached after Kim Jong Un made an abrupt push for improved ties with South Korea following a year of escalating tensions with the outside world over his expanding nuclear and missile programs. Critics say the North may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert welcomed the inter-Korean meeting, which she said was “aimed at ensuring a safe, secure and successful” Olympics. The US said it was consulting with South Korean officials to ensure that North Korea’s participation in the Games does not violate UN sanctions.

North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics won’t affect US participation in the Games, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, adding that the decision presents North Korea with an opportunity to see the value of ending its isolation from the rest of the world.

In his New Year’s Day address, Kim said he was willing

I KEEP MYSELF OPEN TO ANY MEETING … IF IT’S HELPFUL FOR AN IMPROVEMENT OF SOUTHNORTH RELATIONS PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN

to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Games. Mr Moon welcomed the move and proposed the talks at Panmunjom, a proposal North Korea quickly accepted.

Chief North Korean delegate Ri Son Gwon read what he called a joint statement after Tuesday’s talks, under which the two Koreas agreed to “actively co-operate” in the Olympics to “enhance the prestige of the Korean people”.

He said the two countries would hold follow-up talks on their Olympic ties.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test and three tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles.