Korea Unification in progress, Kim's Hockey Girls Arrived!

[Tony Tan]

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...s-arrive-to-begin-olympic-training-with-south

North Korean Women's Hockey Players Arrive To Begin Olympic Training With South

January 25, 20182:29 AM ET
Scott Neuman

Twitter

North Korean female hockey players arrive at the Inter-Korean Transit Office in Paju, South Korea, on Thursday.

AP
Twelve members of the North Korean women's ice hockey team have crossed the heavily fortified border to begin training with their South Korean counterparts ahead of next month's Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Wearing red, white and blue team parkas emblazoned with the North Korean flag and "DPR Korea" on their backs, the women arrived on Thursday after the rival countries agreed to field a joint team at the games for the first-time ever.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting the South's unification ministry, says that an eight-member delegation from the North's sports ministry was also arriving on Thursday.

The joint team will march under a unification flag at the Olympics' opening ceremony. NPR's Bill Chappell says, "South Korea's athletes have previously marched alongside their North Korean counterparts at several Olympics, including the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics in Sydney and Athens, respectively, as well as the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin."

On Saturday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to allow the 12 North Korean players to join South Korea's 23-member team. However, the move has been met with criticism because it will mean less time on the ice for the South's players.

Sarah Murray, the South Korean team coach, said Monday that it was a "tough situation to have our team used for political purposes." She conceded, however, "it's kind of something that's bigger than ourselves right now."

As NPR's Elise Hu reported earlier this week, many South Koreans have also expressed their dismay with joining Pyongyang in the games, reporting, "In Seoul, protesters Monday set fire to the North Korean flag and a photo of Kim Jong Un. The South Korean president's approval rating has dropped in recent days as well."


The Torch
North Korean Athletes Will March With South Koreans At Pyeongchang Olympics

The Torch
North Korea's Olympic Hopefuls Include A Pair Of Figure Skaters

Parallels
In South Korea, A Backlash Against Olympics Cooperation With The North
In a gesture that seemed certain to be received with even more skepticism, North Korea's state media called for "all Koreans at home and abroad" to make a "breakthrough" for unification of the divided peninsula without outside interference. It said military drills with "outside forces" as being unhelpful – an apparent reference to joint U.S.-South Korea war games that have raised the ire of Pyongyang in the past.

KCNA said Koreans should "promote contact, travel, cooperation between North and South Korea" and that Pyongyang would "smash" any efforts by outside forces to block reunification.

The breakthrough over the Olympics came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that he would be open to it. At North-South talks that followed, the two sides reached agreement on the joint team, as well as the reinstatement of a hotline between the two sides and other dialogue aimed at easing tensions.

 

[Tony Tan]

https://www.rt.com/news/416910-pyongyang-smash-reunification-challenges/


Pyongyang urges all Koreans to jointly ‘smash’ any challenges to reunification
Published time: 25 Jan, 2018 01:30 Edited time: 25 Jan, 2018 05:20
Get short URL

Head of the North Korean delegation, Ri Son Gwon shakes hands with South Korean counterpart Cho Myoung-gyon / Reuters
Pyongyang has warned third parties against fueling tensions and interfering in the inter-Korean reconciliation process, claiming it is making a “great effort” to reunify the peninsula against the backdrop of US nuclear threat.
“We will courageously smash all of the challenges of the nation’s desire for reunification,” the government statement carried by KCNA reads. “Let all the Koreans rise up in the peacekeeping struggle against war to baffle the reckless nuclear war moves of the US which brings disaster to [the] land, setting dangerous flames!”

Read more
Dying North Koreans a sign US diplomatic strategy works, Tillerson says
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in his New Year address signaled his willingness to mend fences with his southern neighbor ahead of PyeongChang Olympics in February. Pyongyang and Seoul immediately agreed to reopen their military hotline, and have been communicating ever since, in an unprecedented level of diplomacy. While the US and its allies are wary of the North’s ‘true’ intentions, South Korea maintains that future dialogue with its neighbor can lead to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korean government meanwhile voiced its support for the effort “to bring great changes to the north-south relations.” In fact, North Koreans want “a new history of independent reunification” to begin as soon as possible.

“Let us quickly improve the north-south relations and pave a wide avenue to the rosy future of the nation which will be reunified, strong and prosperous!” the communist government said in a statement addressed to “all Koreans at home and abroad.”

To further improve relations the North says it is willing “to defuse the acute military tension” to “create a peaceful climate” on the Korean peninsula. The hermit state appears keen to promote “contact, travel, and exchange” between neighbors to “actively create a climate for national reconciliation and reunification.”

“Let’s reenergize inter-political parties, inter-strata and inter-sector contacts and dialogues and activate cooperation and exchange at home and abroad to stir up the climate of reunification,” the statement reads.

Read more
‘Very possible’ that N. Korea crisis can’t be resolved peacefully – Trump
Washington has been very opportunistic in its approach to the Korean talks. Initially, Trump claimed credit for making the negotiations between both Koreas possible in the first place. He attributed the tough American stance on North Korea, which centers around sanctions and the threat of the use of force, as the main triggers behind Kim’s drive to seek rapprochement with the South. At the same time, Trump was noted expressing doubt that the intra-Korean talks will lead to “anything meaningful.” The US president also warned it is “very possible” that the standoff with North Korea may not be resolved peacefully.

While South Korean president Moon Jae-in persuaded Trump to delay the annual Foal Eagle military drills until after the ‘Peace Olympics,’ the US continues to seek unilateral pressure on Pyongyang in addition to numerous UN sanctions against the North.

Last week’s US-led ‘Vancouver Foreign Ministers Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula,’ represented by 20 foreign affairs ministers, agreed to consider “unilateral sanctions” to curb North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. China and Russia were not invited.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department went on to sanction nine additional entities, including two Chinese firms, 16 North Korean individuals, and six North Korean vessels. Meanwhile US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “stressed the urgent need for all parties to implement UNSCRs related to North Korea.”

North Korea to send 22 athletes to compete in 3 sports at 2018 Olympics in South Korea – IOC

All the while, Koreans continue to edge closer to making the ‘Peace Olympics’ a successful event. Twenty-two athletes will represent North Korea at the games, competing in three sports and five disciplines, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Saturday. Pyongyang also agreed to send a 140-member art troupe, including an orchestra, singers and dancers, for concerts in Seoul and Gangnueng during next month’s spectacle in PyeongChang. Seoul officials said Wednesday that Pyongyang is scheduled to send its athletes to South Korea on Thursday to inspect the competition venues. Earlier an official North Korean delegation, led by the head of the North’s Samjiyon Orchestra, traveled to the South to inspect Olympic performance venues.

 

[Polygamist]

Xijinping losing in unification of Taiwan to Kim Jong Nuke already. Tomorrow he better threaten Taiwan to join Chinese Team for Winter Olympics, or else Missiles will land on Taiwan by thousands within 24Hrs.

 

[rectmobile]

I am happy that steps are taken for the unification if Korea. This is good.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

I am happy that steps are taken for the unification if Korea. This is good.

Good only if KIM Jong Nuke rules New Korea and have Samsung make tons of ICBMs!

 

[rectmobile]

Good only if KIM Jong Nuke rules New Korea and have Samsung make tons of ICBMs!

I don't understand your orientation of this subject.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

I don't understand your orientation of this subject.

That is the only truthful expectation in reality. What do you expect?

Democracy Freedom & Peace?

You better wake up!

ANY people with Nuke in Hand and ICBM to strike and vaporize any people they want using H Bomb will only let you live if you surrender and comply and serve them with their satisfaction. When they got pissed they order your execution with anti-aircraft machine guns. Even if LHL Bapok got this privilege he will do the same way. He will NOT comply with silly peasants' (my ass) rights and desires, allowed freedom, and dream of PEACE nor SECURITY. Why must they protect and pamper you when they can just rid you easily and forget about you?

You think world is such nice heaven?

Dotard Ang Moh Trump is another similar Nuke Freak and he hate to guts that Kim stole his shows. He got hundred million Democracy & Humanity (spoiled and rotten) Idiots tying his balls unlike Kim who got all the freedom. This is why Dotard will lose and Kim will win.

 

[rectmobile]

That is the only truthful expectation in reality. What do you expect?

Democracy Freedom & Peace?

You better wake up!

ANY people with Nuke in Hand and ICBM to strike and vaporize any people they want using H Bomb will only let you live if you surrender and comply and serve them with their satisfaction. When they got pissed they order your execution with anti-aircraft machine guns. Even if LHL Bapok got this privilege he will do the same way. He will NOT comply with silly peasants' (my ass) rights and desires, allowed freedom, and dream of PEACE nor SECURITY. Why must they protect and pamper you when they can just rid you easily and forget about you?

You think world is such nice heaven?

I think you have a sad base of being a human being. You need help.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

I think you have a sad base of being a human being. You need help.

Human Being are the source of all the crisis and destruction on the fucking planet and ruining everything else with their silly ideas. Never learn of own stupid mistakes, wrongly admire themselves, denying obvious faults and crimes, including genocide every form of lives on the planet, and still want to propagate such total destruction to every other planets that they can get their fucking ass on!

Nothing else is so CHEE BYE - absolutely!

 

[Hangover]

Watch this woman, she just represented N.Korea for talks in South Korea.
Note: - She probably the only one allowed to have the longest hair in N.Korea

 

[bobby]

I am happy that steps are taken for the unification if Korea. This is good.

I doubt the genuine gesture of NK...there is a definite hidden agenda by fat Kim.

 

[Hangover]

I doubt the genuine gesture of NK...there is a definite hidden agenda by fat Kim.

UK, US, Japan and some countries have their military assets near S.Korea for emergency evacuation in February.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/01/22/2018012201260.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...om-south-korea-in-crisis-report-idUSKBN1F508L

 

[tanwahtiu]

He is a 多嘴 person. Leave him alone.

I don't understand your orientation of this subject.

 

[Hangover]

Many young N.Korean girls who defected ended up working in high-end South Korean KTVs
The old-end South Koreans KTVs are served by the Chinese-Koreans from Liaoning.

 

[syed putra]

Its about time the koreans unite, like the fall of the berlin wall when soviet under gorbachev relented as it has collapsed.
And vietnam when people of US protested against the war and southern vietnam collapsed after US pullout.
Similarly, its china that is propping up north korea for its own interest. Nothing more. If china collapse, so will north korea. But that will not happen so soon.

 

[eatshitndie]

at least the nk girls look original korean, unlike many in the south who go under the knife and look the same, like a plastic mold.

 

[Truth_Hurts]

I doubt the genuine gesture of NK...there is a definite hidden agenda by fat Kim.

Yes, history has shown that the North Kim Chees will start creating problems again,,to get more benefits from the South. To me, the north korean trump card is not its nukes, it the South unwillingness to take them on. The north knows they have huge leeway and to get away with crap,,,,NK has given up nothing, but got heaps of benefits from the South,,,it will be back to the south 'Sunshine policy'. To me,,,the SKs are like the Fuckiens its kia su kia see unwillingness to stand up to the north,,no difference to the Taiwanese and wanting to accept Ah tiong land domination

 

[Hangover]

The biggest war risk in Asia is not Korean peninsular.

It's Budhi Gandaki project; Nepal is going to trigger the next crash between India and China.

 

[think_lees]

http://www.dw.com/en/south-korean-o...as-seoul-rejects-olympics-critique/a-42265418

South Korean officials visit North as Seoul rejects Olympics critique
South Korean officials have traveled to North Korea to inspect venues for joint training during next month's Winter Olympics. The move comes amid rising criticism of Seoul's reconciliation efforts ahead of the games.


A delegation of South Korean officials visited North Korea on Tuesday to check logistics for joint Olympics-linked events ahead of next month's Winter Games.

Tuesday's visit marks the first time Seoul officials have traveled to North Korea for nearly two years, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The group of 12 South Korean officials is expected to spend three days in the North. They will inspect venues for joint cultural events at the North's Diamond Mountain and a site at the Masik ski resort where non-Olympic skiers from both countries will practice together.

Read more: IOC: Two Koreas to march together at Winter Olympics opening ceremony



Watch video 01:12
North and South Korean figure skaters forge friendship
North Korea sent its own delegation to the South for a two-day visit that concluded on Monday and was headed by Hyon Song Wol, the leader of North Korea's popular Morangbong girl band. It was the first time officials from the North had visited the South in four years.

Another group of Pyongyang officials are due to visit this week to tour the Olympic main stadium in Pyeongchang.

Read more: 'Comfort women' dispute: Japan's Abe to snub South Korea's Olympics invite?


North Korean singer Hyon Song Wol's visit to the South sparked a media frenzy

Seoul fends off 'Pyongyang Olympics' critique

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration faced criticism at home over rapprochement efforts between the two countries ahead of the Pyeongchang Games, which will start on February 9.

Critics accuse Moon of making too many concessions to the North, for using athletes for political purposes and giving North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the spotlight.

"Just one month ago, acute tensions gripped the Korean peninsula, but the administration's efforts to tackle the crisis through dialogue has led to North Korea's participation in the Olympics," Blue House spokesman Park Soo-hyun said during a press conference on Tuesday.

"We can't understand putting an outdated tag of 'Pyongyang Olympics' to the Pyeongchang Olympics, which will be a 'Peace Olympics'," Park said.

Read more: Korean War allies consider further sanctions against North Korea



Watch video 01:47
North and South Korea agree joint women's ice hockey team
North Korea also condemned a group of conservative demonstrators who burned Kim's image during the Pyongyang delegation's visit to the South, calling them "traitors."

The two Koreas agreed to have their athletes parade together under a single flag during the opening ceremony and to have their athletes compete as one team in women's hockey.

The reconciliation efforts were sparked following Kim's New Year's announcement that he was willing to send an Olympic delegation.

Pyongyang is facing multiple layers of sanctions imposed over a series of nuclear and missile tests that it has carried out in violation of the UN Security Council.



Watch video 02:00
20 nations pledge to increase pressure on North Korea
rs/rt (AP, AFP, Reuters)

 

[think_lees]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/01/356_242953.html

South Korean delegates visit Mt. Geumgang, Masikryong ski resort
Posted : 2018-01-23 16:39
Updated : 2018-01-24 10:02









By Kim Bo-eun

A South Korean delegation arrived in North Korea, Tuesday, for a three-day tour of Mount Geumgang and the Masikryong Ski Resort, where inter-Korean events will take place ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month.

The visit came a day after a North Korean delegation returned to Pyongyang following a two-day visit to the South to inspect venues where a North Korean orchestral music troupe will perform during the Olympics.

The South Korean delegates led by a unification ministry official crossed the Military Demarcation Line around 10 a.m., Tuesday, taking an eastern land route to Mount Geumgang.

The delegation will return to the South, Thursday, around 6 p.m.

This was the first reopening of the eastern road in two years and three months, since the last reunion of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War took place at Mount Geumgang in October 2015.

Tours to the scenic mountain were halted in 2008, after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier for wandering into an off-limits area.

It is also the first time in almost two years for South Korean officials to travel to the North beyond the truce village of Panmunjeom, since the Gaeseong Industrial Complex was shut down in February 2016.

The 12-member delegation is composed of officials from the unification, and culture and sports ministries, as well as Korea Ski Association members and aviation experts.

The delegation inspected a hall at Mount Geumgang, Tuesday, where the Koreas are set to hold a joint cultural event.

They then traveled to the Masikryong Ski Resort in the city of Wonsan on North Korea's east coast, the unification ministry said.

The Koreas are planning to hold joint "training" sessions at the resort. The ministry said the delegation will check the feasibility of training for downhill and cross-country skiing _ two Olympic events that North Korea will take part in.

Because the North has proposed the training take place over two days, the delegation is also set to examine the accommodation for South Korean skiers.

It is also scheduled to visit the Kalma International Airport in Wonsan to see whether South Korean skiers will be able to travel to the North by air. The airport is near the site Pyongyang conducted multiple tests of its Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles in 2016.

Pyongyang is expected to cover the expenses associated with the South Korean delegation's visit to the North, as Seoul decided to pay for costs incurred for the North Korean delegation's visit to the South through the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund.

"According to the principle of reciprocity, North and South Korea are set to cover expenses for each other," unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said in a briefing, Monday.

The government has stated it would resolve the issue of expenses incurred from Olympics-related exchanges within the boundaries of the sanctions placed on Pyongyang.

According to reports, Masikryong charges $35 per person to use the ski facilities, while hotel accommodation amounts to around $300 a night. Because sanctions by the U.N. Security Council ban cash payments to North Korea, Pyongyang will likely have to cover the costs of the South Korean skiers.

On Thursday, the day the delegation returns, another North Korean team will visit the South to inspect the Olympic stadium and other facilities for three days.

The team will check accommodation and facilities for its athletes, cheerleaders, taekwondo demonstration team and reporters in PyeongChang and Seoul.

Along with the inspection team, the North said it would send 15 ice hockey players who would form a joint women's team with South Korean athletes.

The two Koreas also agreed that the North Korean music troupe would perform at the Gangneung Art Center in Gangwon Province, Feb. 8, and at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul, Feb. 11.