North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited the South`s President Moon Jae-in for a summit in Pyongyang, Seoul said Saturday.

The invitation, delivered by Kim&#39;s visiting sister Kim Yo Jong, said Kim was willing to meet the South`s leader &quot;at the earliest date possible&quot;, said a spokesman for the presidential Blue House.

An inter-Korean summit would be the third of its kind, after Kim`s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il met the South`s Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun in 2000 and 2007 respectively, both of them in Pyongyang.

After months of silence on whether it would even take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South, which had their opening ceremony Friday, nuclear-armed North Korea has gone on a charm offensive, dispatching athletes, performers and Kim`s sister plus other diplomatic delegates to the South. 
 
Moon met Kim Yo Jong and the North`s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam for talks and lunch at the Blue House on Saturday.&nbsp;

&quot;Special envoy Kim Yo Jong delivered a personal letter&quot; from her brother stating his &quot;wish to improve inter-Korean relations&quot;, said Moon`s spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.

She verbally conveyed Kim`s invitation to Moon &quot;to visit the North at his most convenient time&quot;, he added.

Moon has long argued for engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear ambitions, but did not immediately accept the offer.

Moon called for efforts to &quot;create the right conditions to realise&quot; such a visit, his spokesman said, urging Pyongyang to more actively seek dialogue with the US.

&quot;It is absolutely necessary for the North and the United States to engage in talks at an early date,&quot; he cited Moon as saying.

Washington has long insisted the North must show a willingness to denuclearise before any negotiations -- which Pyongyang says it will never do.

The invitation, delivered by Kim's visiting sister Kim Yo Jong, said Kim was willing to meet the South`s leader 'at the earliest date possible', said a spokesman for the presidential Blue House

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited the South`s President Moon Jae-in for a summit in Pyongyang, Seoul said Saturday. The invitation, delivered by Kim's visiting sister Kim Yo Jong, said Kim was willing to meet the South`s leader "at the earliest date possible", said a spokesman for the presidential Blue House. An inter-Korean summit would be the third of its kind, after Kim`s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il met the South`s Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun in 2000 and 2007 respectively, both of them in Pyongyang. After months of silence on whether it would even take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South, which had their opening ceremony Friday, nuclear-armed North Korea has gone on a charm offensive, dispatching athletes, performers and Kim`s sister plus other diplomatic delegates to the South. Moon met Kim Yo Jong and the North`s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam for talks and lunch at the Blue House on Saturday. "Special envoy Kim Yo Jong delivered a personal letter" from her brother stating his "wish to improve inter-Korean relations", said Moon`s spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. She verbally conveyed Kim`s invitation to Moon "to visit the North at his most convenient time", he added. Moon has long argued for engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear ambitions, but did not immediately accept the offer. Moon called for efforts to "create the right conditions to realise" such a visit, his spokesman said, urging Pyongyang to more actively seek dialogue with the US. "It is absolutely necessary for the North and the United States to engage in talks at an early date," he cited Moon as saying. Washington has long insisted the North must show a willingness to denuclearise before any negotiations -- which Pyongyang says it will never do.

Kim Jong Un's sister invites South Korean president to Pyongyang

The Winter Olympics has started, fans are encouraging their country and favourite athletes.

The theme of this years Olympics is unity and peace and even the opening ceremony was marked by a show of unity between North and South Korea.

But unfortunately, people dressed up as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on Friday were swiftly being shown out by security staff.

The &#39;fakes&#39;&nbsp;caused a commotion when they appeared in the stands during the Opening Ceremony.

&quot;We&#39;re getting along great,&quot; said the Kim lookalike, who declined to give his name.

&quot;We wanted to surprise everyone and bring world peace and then we&#39;re being escorted out by security guards, which I think is really unfair,&quot; he added. &quot;Doesn&#39;t everyone want peace?&quot;

Athletes from both countries entered the arena under a flag depicting a unified Korea as American Vice President Mike Pence and Kim&#39;s sister, Kim Yo Jong, watched on from a VIP box.

&quot;Is my sister getting the same treatment? &quot; the Kim lookalike said as he was escorted out of the stadium.

&nbsp;

Two people dressed up as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on Friday were swiftly being shown out by security staff

The Winter Olympics has started, fans are encouraging their country and favourite athletes. The theme of this years Olympics is unity and peace and even the opening ceremony was marked by a show of unity between North and South Korea. But unfortunately, people dressed up as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on Friday were swiftly being shown out by security staff. The 'fakes' caused a commotion when they appeared in the stands during the Opening Ceremony. "We're getting along great," said the Kim lookalike, who declined to give his name. "We wanted to surprise everyone and bring world peace and then we're being escorted out by security guards, which I think is really unfair," he added. "Doesn't everyone want peace?" Athletes from both countries entered the arena under a flag depicting a unified Korea as American Vice President Mike Pence and Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, watched on from a VIP box. "Is my sister getting the same treatment? " the Kim lookalike said as he was escorted out of the stadium.

'Trump' and 'Kim' appeared at opening ceremony of Winter Olympics

The ice hockey was one of the key&nbsp;events of 23rd Winter Games as for the first time in history joint Korean team was supposed to appear at Olympics.

The first combined Korean team in Olympic history suffered a resounding 8-0 defeat to Switzerland in women&#39;s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Winter Games on Saturday.

Watched by a high-level North Korean delegation and South Korean President Moon Jae-in -- and a North Korean cheerleading squad -- the team was no match for the Swiss.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The cheers from the crowed lighted up the atmosphere at the Women&rsquo;s Ice Hockey Game between Team Corea and Switzerland! ????????코리아 팀의 아이스하키 경기에 펼쳐진 열띤 응원전이 펼쳐졌습니다!응원에 힘입어 멋진 경기를 펼치는 선수들! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%EC%BD%94%EB%A6%AC%EC%95%84?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#코리아</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%ED%99%94%EC%9D%B4%ED%8C%85?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#화이팅</a>!????<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PyeongChang2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PyeongChang2018</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pyeongChang?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pyeongChang</a> <a href="https://t.co/dcFdYi5qa5">pic.twitter.com/dcFdYi5qa5</a>
&mdash; PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) <a href="https://twitter.com/pyeongchang2018/status/962322626310848517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

Alina Muller scored four while Phoebe Staenz and Lara Stalder both struck twice to rout the Korean team, who had only played together once before and looked out of their depth.

The Koreas also play Japan and Sweden in Group B. It was the first time the Koreas, who marched together at Friday&#39;s opening ceremony, have competed side-by-side at an Olympics.

&nbsp;

The first combined Korean team in Olympic history suffered a resounding 8-0 defeat to Switzerland in women's ice hockey

The ice hockey was one of the key events of 23rd Winter Games as for the first time in history joint Korean team was supposed to appear at Olympics. The first combined Korean team in Olympic history suffered a resounding 8-0 defeat to Switzerland in women's ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Winter Games on Saturday. Watched by a high-level North Korean delegation and South Korean President Moon Jae-in -- and a North Korean cheerleading squad -- the team was no match for the Swiss. The cheers from the crowed lighted up the atmosphere at the Women’s Ice Hockey Game between Team Corea and Switzerland! ????????코리아 팀의 아이스하키 경기에 펼쳐진 열띤 응원전이 펼쳐졌습니다!응원에 힘입어 멋진 경기를 펼치는 선수들! #코리아 #화이팅!????#PyeongChang2018 #pyeongChang pic.twitter.com/dcFdYi5qa5 — PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) February 10, 2018 × Alina Muller scored four while Phoebe Staenz and Lara Stalder both struck twice to rout the Korean team, who had only played together once before and looked out of their depth. The Koreas also play Japan and Sweden in Group B. It was the first time the Koreas, who marched together at Friday's opening ceremony, have competed side-by-side at an Olympics.

Switzerland trounces unified Korean ice hockey team

Short-track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun claimed a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/swedens-kalla-charlotte-wins-first-gold-medal-of-winter-olympics-32404">first gold medal</a> for South Korea on Saturday as the hosts made a triumphant start to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Lim got Korea off the mark on the first full day of action in the men&#39;s 1500m in front of an ecstatic, near-capacity 12,000 crowd at the Gangneung Ice Arena.

In a frenetic final the 21-year-old saw off Dutch world record-holder Sjinkie Knegt with Semen Elistratov, one of the Russians competing as an independent, in third.

With South Korea&#39;s President Moon Jae-in watching, together with American Vice-President Mike Pence, Lim delivered the goods to further embellish Korea&#39;s dazzling record in the sport with their 22nd short track title.

Korea had two shots at the target but Hwang Dae-heon crashed out of the final, causing a collective groan from the home supporters.

Canada&#39;s Sochi 2014 champion Charles Hamelin scraped into the nine-skater climax in a four-way photo-finish in his semi-final, but there was to be no repeat for the bearded 33-year-old as he picked up a penalty.

Short-track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun claimed a first gold medal for South Korea

Short-track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun claimed a first gold medal for South Korea on Saturday as the hosts made a triumphant start to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Lim got Korea off the mark on the first full day of action in the men's 1500m in front of an ecstatic, near-capacity 12,000 crowd at the Gangneung Ice Arena. In a frenetic final the 21-year-old saw off Dutch world record-holder Sjinkie Knegt with Semen Elistratov, one of the Russians competing as an independent, in third. With South Korea's President Moon Jae-in watching, together with American Vice-President Mike Pence, Lim delivered the goods to further embellish Korea's dazzling record in the sport with their 22nd short track title. Korea had two shots at the target but Hwang Dae-heon crashed out of the final, causing a collective groan from the home supporters. Canada's Sochi 2014 champion Charles Hamelin scraped into the nine-skater climax in a four-way photo-finish in his semi-final, but there was to be no repeat for the bearded 33-year-old as he picked up a penalty.

Lim strikes first gold for Olympic hosts South Korea

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organisers said on Saturday that 11 new cases of a virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea had been confirmed at the Games, bringing the total to 139.

The number of new norovirus cases is a steep drop-off from the 42 new cases confirmed on Thursday and 54 a day earlier.

The virus had broken out in the leadup to Friday`s opening ceremony in Pyeongchang and led to some 1,200 security staff being quarantined. Organisers had to call in military personnel to replace them. 
 
As yet, no athletes have been confirmed to have contracted the highly contagious virus. An outbreak at last year`s World Athletics Championship in London forced competitors from several countries to miss events.

POCOG said several agencies were cooperating to stifle the outbreak, with water quality being tested and inspections taking place at venues, restaurants, hotels and worker accommodation.

The number of new norovirus cases is a steep drop-off from the 42 new cases confirmed on Thursday and 54 a day earlier

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organisers said on Saturday that 11 new cases of a virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea had been confirmed at the Games, bringing the total to 139. The number of new norovirus cases is a steep drop-off from the 42 new cases confirmed on Thursday and 54 a day earlier. The virus had broken out in the leadup to Friday`s opening ceremony in Pyeongchang and led to some 1,200 security staff being quarantined. Organisers had to call in military personnel to replace them. As yet, no athletes have been confirmed to have contracted the highly contagious virus. An outbreak at last year`s World Athletics Championship in London forced competitors from several countries to miss events. POCOG said several agencies were cooperating to stifle the outbreak, with water quality being tested and inspections taking place at venues, restaurants, hotels and worker accommodation.

Olympics: Norovirus outbreak tapers off as Games get underway

Google celebrates winter games as the opening ceremony has started.

Winter Olympics is already underway,&nbsp;PyeongChang 2018 will host the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. It is a major international multi-sport event which is scheduled to take place from February 9 to 25.

The 23rd Winter Olympics will feature 102 events in 15 sports and athletes from all over the world.

The organisers of the upcoming Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic games had already warned spectators that they will face sub-zero temperatures during the tournament.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/google%201-20180209061926.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Google celebrates the 23rd Winter Olympics. (Others)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

This year&#39;s Winter Olympic games may set a new record for being the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the roofless Olympic Stadium, a pentagonal arena that can accommodate around 40,000 people.

Freezing weather at the Winter Olympics may force some athletes and staff to pull out of Friday&#39;s opening ceremony as Pyeongchang shivers in temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

&nbsp;

The 23rd Winter Olympics will feature 102 events in 15 sports and athletes from all over the world

Google celebrates winter games as the opening ceremony has started. Winter Olympics is already underway, PyeongChang 2018 will host the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. It is a major international multi-sport event which is scheduled to take place from February 9 to 25. The 23rd Winter Olympics will feature 102 events in 15 sports and athletes from all over the world. The organisers of the upcoming Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic games had already warned spectators that they will face sub-zero temperatures during the tournament. Google celebrates the 23rd Winter Olympics. (Others) × This year's Winter Olympic games may set a new record for being the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the roofless Olympic Stadium, a pentagonal arena that can accommodate around 40,000 people. Freezing weather at the Winter Olympics may force some athletes and staff to pull out of Friday's opening ceremony as Pyeongchang shivers in temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Google celebrates 23rd Winter Olympics

North Korean athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics refused to accept smartphones offered on condition they returned them after the Games, news reports said, as the IOC backed down over a similar demand for Iranians.

The IOC is providing Galaxy Note 8 devices from Olympic sponsor Samsung to all athletes and officials at the Games, loaded with essential logistical and competition information.

Organisers initially said the North Koreans and Iranians would be denied the devices due to UN sanctions on their countries.

Then the IOC said they would be provided for the Games, but the two countries&#39; representatives would be asked to return them afterwards rather than keep them.

It was not clear how the IOC would ensure compliance with the request.

But Yonhap news agency said the North Koreans at the Games had refused the phones. No reason was given, but Internet access is strictly limited in the North.

Pyongyang has sent 22 athletes to the Olympics, along with several officials.

An IOC spokesman was unable to confirm the reports when contacted by AFP.

The ban on Iranians keeping the phones had provoked a furious reaction in Teheran, with authorities blaming the manufacturer for the situation.

Iran&#39;s foreign ministry summoned South Korea&#39;s ambassador Kim Seung-ho to lodge a &quot;strong protest&quot; over what it called Samsung&#39;s &quot;dishonest conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games&quot;.

The ambassador was warned that &quot;if Samsung does not make its excuses... this affair will have strong repercussions on commercial relations between the Samsung Group and the Islamic Republic of Iran&quot;.

Samsung, the world&#39;s biggest smartphone and memory chip manufacturer, is a crucial part of South Korea&#39;s economy, with the group&#39;s turnover equivalent to a fifth of the national GDP.

The IOC later backed down.

&quot;Regarding Iran, we can confirm that all participants will be able to keep the phones,&quot; it said in a statement late Thursday.

&quot;Regarding North Korea, all participants are requested not to take the phones back to their home country but to only use them during their stay in Pyeongchang,&quot; it added.

The Galaxy Note 8 retails for around 1,000,000 South Korean won ($920) and so could fall foul of UN measures banning supplies of luxury goods to the North.

A Samsung spokeswoman stressed the electronics giant had nothing to do with the distribution of the handsets and all decisions were by the IOC.

The IOC is providing Galaxy Note 8 devices from Olympic sponsor Samsung to all athletes and officials at the Games, loaded with essential logistical and competition information

North Korean athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics refused to accept smartphones offered on condition they returned them after the Games, news reports said, as the IOC backed down over a similar demand for Iranians. The IOC is providing Galaxy Note 8 devices from Olympic sponsor Samsung to all athletes and officials at the Games, loaded with essential logistical and competition information. Organisers initially said the North Koreans and Iranians would be denied the devices due to UN sanctions on their countries. Then the IOC said they would be provided for the Games, but the two countries' representatives would be asked to return them afterwards rather than keep them. It was not clear how the IOC would ensure compliance with the request. But Yonhap news agency said the North Koreans at the Games had refused the phones. No reason was given, but Internet access is strictly limited in the North. Pyongyang has sent 22 athletes to the Olympics, along with several officials. An IOC spokesman was unable to confirm the reports when contacted by AFP. The ban on Iranians keeping the phones had provoked a furious reaction in Teheran, with authorities blaming the manufacturer for the situation. Iran's foreign ministry summoned South Korea's ambassador Kim Seung-ho to lodge a "strong protest" over what it called Samsung's "dishonest conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games". The ambassador was warned that "if Samsung does not make its excuses... this affair will have strong repercussions on commercial relations between the Samsung Group and the Islamic Republic of Iran". Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip manufacturer, is a crucial part of South Korea's economy, with the group's turnover equivalent to a fifth of the national GDP. The IOC later backed down. "Regarding Iran, we can confirm that all participants will be able to keep the phones," it said in a statement late Thursday. "Regarding North Korea, all participants are requested not to take the phones back to their home country but to only use them during their stay in Pyeongchang," it added. The Galaxy Note 8 retails for around 1,000,000 South Korean won ($920) and so could fall foul of UN measures banning supplies of luxury goods to the North. A Samsung spokeswoman stressed the electronics giant had nothing to do with the distribution of the handsets and all decisions were by the IOC.

North Koreans decline Olympic phones: reports

In December, the IOC had suspended Russia over a state-sponsored doping conspiracy culminating in its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The CAS drew criticism last week when it lifted life Olympic bans imposed on 28 Russians. But when 15 of them applied to take part in Pyeongchang, the IOC refused to give them invitations.

Now, forty-seven Russian athletes and staff implicated in doping have lost a last-minute court bid to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday.

&quot;The applications filed by Russian athletes and coaches have been dismissed,&quot; CAS said in a statement, issued just hours before the Games&#39; opening ceremony.

Russia&#39;s team has been suspended from the Olympics over a systemic doping scandal, but the International Olympic Committee has allowed a group of Russians considered as clean athletes to take part.

Earlier, a&nbsp;group of 13 Russians lost a last-ditch bid to beat their country&#39;s doping ban.

&nbsp;

47 Russian athletes and staff implicated in doping have lost a last-minute court bid to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday

In December, the IOC had suspended Russia over a state-sponsored doping conspiracy culminating in its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The CAS drew criticism last week when it lifted life Olympic bans imposed on 28 Russians. But when 15 of them applied to take part in Pyeongchang, the IOC refused to give them invitations. Now, forty-seven Russian athletes and staff implicated in doping have lost a last-minute court bid to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday. "The applications filed by Russian athletes and coaches have been dismissed," CAS said in a statement, issued just hours before the Games' opening ceremony. Russia's team has been suspended from the Olympics over a systemic doping scandal, but the International Olympic Committee has allowed a group of Russians considered as clean athletes to take part. Earlier, a group of 13 Russians lost a last-ditch bid to beat their country's doping ban.

47 Russians lose late court bid to compete at Olympics

North Korea has no intention of meeting US&nbsp;officials during the Winter Olympics that start in South Korea on Friday, state media reported, dampening hopes the Games will help resolve a tense standoff over the North`s nuclear weapons programme.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who described North Korea as the world`s most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, flies into South Korea on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony in the mountain resort of Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily armed border with the reclusive North.&nbsp;

The ceremony will also be attended by a senior delegation of North Korean officials, including the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un and the North`s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.

The sister, Kim Yo Jong, and other members of her entourage will travel by private jet to Seoul`s Incheon International Airport on Friday afternoon, North Korea informed the South on Thursday.

&quot;We have never begged for dialogue with the U.S. nor in the future, too,&quot; the North`s KCNA news agency reported, citing Jo Yong Sam, director-general of the North American department of North Korea`s foreign ministry.

&quot;Explicitly speaking, we have no intention to meet with the U.S. side during the stay in South Korea ... Our delegation`s visit to South Korea is only to take part in the Olympics and hail its successful holding.&quot;

Pence said the United States had not requested talks with North Korean officials but left open the possibility of some contact.

&quot;But if I have any contact with them, in any context, over the next two days, my message will be the same as it was here today: North Korea needs to, once and for all, abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile ambition,&quot; Pence told reporters as he left Japan.&nbsp;

South Korea wants to use the Olympics to re-engage with North Korea and open the way for talks to resolve one of the world`s most dangerous crises, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang have swapped bellicose threats of nuclear war.

Pence had said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday that Washington would soon unveil &quot;the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever&quot;.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that China saw the Olympics as a first step towards &quot;everyday, uninterrupted&quot; dialogue.

All sides, not just the two Koreas, needed to work hard and dialogue between the United States and North Korea should be expanded for this to happen, Wang said.

&quot;You can&rsquo;t have it that one person opens the door and another closes it,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

Military parade

North Korea marked the founding anniversary of its army with a large military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday, a government official told Reuters, having last month changed the date of the celebration to the eve of the Olympics.

The official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Domestic media reports said the parade was smaller than those of previous years.

Pence will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul on Thursday. On Friday, before he attends the Olympic opening ceremony, he will visit a memorial for 46 South Korean sailors killed in 2010 in the sinking of a warship that Seoul blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack.

Pence is taking the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died last year after being imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months.

Kim Yo Jong, the 28-year-old sister of the North Korean leader, will be sitting in the same stadium as VIP guests along with ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam.

She will be the first member of the Kim family to cross the border into the South. Kim Yo Jong is a propaganda official and was blacklisted last year by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged human rights abuses and censorship.

Japan`s Abe, whose nation has been within range of North Korean missiles for decades, will also attend the ceremony, adding to seating complications for the hosts.

South Korea asked the United Nations on Wednesday for an exemption to allow a U.N.-sanctioned North Korean official, Choe Hwi, to attend the opening ceremony with Kim Yo Jong.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said no decision had been made yet on Choe and Pyongyang had not mentioned any change in their plans to send him.

The U.N. Security Council, which has slapped a series of sanctions on North Korea for its weapons programmes, imposed a travel ban and asset freeze Choe last year when he was vice director of the Workers` Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department.

A group of 280 North Koreans arrived in South Korea on Wednesday, including a 229-member cheer squad, taekwondo performers, journalists and the sports minister.

Preliminary competition at the Games began on Thursday, with events including curling and ski jumping.

Organisers have already been battling some challenges, including a stomach virus that has hit dozens of staff and a fire near the Olympic media village on Thursday that produced thick black smoke but was quickly extinguished.

The ceremony will also be attended by a senior delegation of North Korean officials, including the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un and the North`s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.

North Korea has no intention of meeting US officials during the Winter Olympics that start in South Korea on Friday, state media reported, dampening hopes the Games will help resolve a tense standoff over the North`s nuclear weapons programme. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who described North Korea as the world`s most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, flies into South Korea on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony in the mountain resort of Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily armed border with the reclusive North. The ceremony will also be attended by a senior delegation of North Korean officials, including the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un and the North`s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam. The sister, Kim Yo Jong, and other members of her entourage will travel by private jet to Seoul`s Incheon International Airport on Friday afternoon, North Korea informed the South on Thursday. "We have never begged for dialogue with the U.S. nor in the future, too," the North`s KCNA news agency reported, citing Jo Yong Sam, director-general of the North American department of North Korea`s foreign ministry. "Explicitly speaking, we have no intention to meet with the U.S. side during the stay in South Korea ... Our delegation`s visit to South Korea is only to take part in the Olympics and hail its successful holding." Pence said the United States had not requested talks with North Korean officials but left open the possibility of some contact. "But if I have any contact with them, in any context, over the next two days, my message will be the same as it was here today: North Korea needs to, once and for all, abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile ambition," Pence told reporters as he left Japan. South Korea wants to use the Olympics to re-engage with North Korea and open the way for talks to resolve one of the world`s most dangerous crises, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang have swapped bellicose threats of nuclear war. Pence had said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday that Washington would soon unveil "the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever". In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that China saw the Olympics as a first step towards "everyday, uninterrupted" dialogue. All sides, not just the two Koreas, needed to work hard and dialogue between the United States and North Korea should be expanded for this to happen, Wang said. "You can’t have it that one person opens the door and another closes it," he said. Military parade North Korea marked the founding anniversary of its army with a large military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday, a government official told Reuters, having last month changed the date of the celebration to the eve of the Olympics. The official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. Domestic media reports said the parade was smaller than those of previous years. Pence will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul on Thursday. On Friday, before he attends the Olympic opening ceremony, he will visit a memorial for 46 South Korean sailors killed in 2010 in the sinking of a warship that Seoul blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack. Pence is taking the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died last year after being imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months. Kim Yo Jong, the 28-year-old sister of the North Korean leader, will be sitting in the same stadium as VIP guests along with ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam. She will be the first member of the Kim family to cross the border into the South. Kim Yo Jong is a propaganda official and was blacklisted last year by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged human rights abuses and censorship. Japan`s Abe, whose nation has been within range of North Korean missiles for decades, will also attend the ceremony, adding to seating complications for the hosts. South Korea asked the United Nations on Wednesday for an exemption to allow a U.N.-sanctioned North Korean official, Choe Hwi, to attend the opening ceremony with Kim Yo Jong. The Unification Ministry in Seoul said no decision had been made yet on Choe and Pyongyang had not mentioned any change in their plans to send him. The U.N. Security Council, which has slapped a series of sanctions on North Korea for its weapons programmes, imposed a travel ban and asset freeze Choe last year when he was vice director of the Workers` Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department. A group of 280 North Koreans arrived in South Korea on Wednesday, including a 229-member cheer squad, taekwondo performers, journalists and the sports minister. Preliminary competition at the Games began on Thursday, with events including curling and ski jumping. Organisers have already been battling some challenges, including a stomach virus that has hit dozens of staff and a fire near the Olympic media village on Thursday that produced thick black smoke but was quickly extinguished.

North Korea says no US talks planned at Olympics as Pence heads to Seoul

Almost all the dog meat restaurants in South Korea`s Pyeongchang county, where the Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be held on Friday, have defied a government request to stop serving the food, an official admitted Thursday.

South Koreans are believed to consume about one million dogs a year as a summertime delicacy, with the greasy red meat -- which is invariably boiled for tenderness -- believed to increase energy.

Activists have stepped up campaigns to ban dog consumption, with online petitions urging boycotts of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics over the issue, and protests in Seoul.

Local authorities asked the 12 dog meat restaurants in Pyeongchang county to stop serving the food during the Games, in exchange for subsidies.

But only two have complied, Pyeongchang County government official Lee Yong-bae said.

&quot;We`ve faced a lot of complaints from restaurant operators that we are threatening their livelihood,&quot; he said.

&quot;Some of them initially shifted to selling pork or things instead of dog meat only to find their sales plunging sharply. They then switched back to dog meat.&quot;

Signs advertising dog meat dishes such as boshintang (health-boosting soup), yeongyangtang (nutrient soup) or sacheoltang (year-round soup) have been replaced with more neutral ones such as yeomsotang (goat soup) to avoid giving &quot;a bad impression to foreigners&quot; during the Games, he added.

Dog meat is officially classed as &quot;detestable&quot; by Seoul, as is snake, but the designation has no legal ramifications.

South Korean authorities periodically try to persuade restaurants to change their menus or drop signs suggestive of dog meat during major international events hosted by the country.&nbsp;

The tradition has declined as the nation increasingly embraces the idea of dogs as pets instead of livestock, with eating them now something of a taboo among young South Koreans.

Almost all the dog meat restaurants in South Korea`s Pyeongchang county, where the Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be held on Friday, have defied a government request to stop serving the food, an official admitted Thursday

Almost all the dog meat restaurants in South Korea`s Pyeongchang county, where the Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be held on Friday, have defied a government request to stop serving the food, an official admitted Thursday. South Koreans are believed to consume about one million dogs a year as a summertime delicacy, with the greasy red meat -- which is invariably boiled for tenderness -- believed to increase energy. Activists have stepped up campaigns to ban dog consumption, with online petitions urging boycotts of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics over the issue, and protests in Seoul. Local authorities asked the 12 dog meat restaurants in Pyeongchang county to stop serving the food during the Games, in exchange for subsidies. But only two have complied, Pyeongchang County government official Lee Yong-bae said. "We`ve faced a lot of complaints from restaurant operators that we are threatening their livelihood," he said. "Some of them initially shifted to selling pork or things instead of dog meat only to find their sales plunging sharply. They then switched back to dog meat." Signs advertising dog meat dishes such as boshintang (health-boosting soup), yeongyangtang (nutrient soup) or sacheoltang (year-round soup) have been replaced with more neutral ones such as yeomsotang (goat soup) to avoid giving "a bad impression to foreigners" during the Games, he added. Dog meat is officially classed as "detestable" by Seoul, as is snake, but the designation has no legal ramifications. South Korean authorities periodically try to persuade restaurants to change their menus or drop signs suggestive of dog meat during major international events hosted by the country. The tradition has declined as the nation increasingly embraces the idea of dogs as pets instead of livestock, with eating them now something of a taboo among young South Koreans.

South Korea dog meat restaurants refuse to stop serving during Olympics

&nbsp;US&nbsp;Vice President Mike Pence vowed tough new sanctions against North Korea and called it the world&#39;s most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, two days before he is due to attend the winter Olympics, along with two of the North&#39;s most senior officials.

Speaking in Tokyo on his way to South Korea, which is hosting the Games over the next three weeks, Pence said he would soon announce the stepped-up sanctions in an effort to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes.

US&nbsp;Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet that the sanctions would be unveiled &quot;in the coming weeks&quot; and urged all countries to fully implement existing UN&nbsp;sanctions and to back the U.S. pressure campaign by expelling North Korean &quot;financial facilitators and trade reps&quot;.

The Games, being staged 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily militarised border between the Koreas, is set for an awkward political encounter, with Pence as well as the North Korean leader&#39;s younger sister attending Friday&#39;s opening ceremony.

South Korea wants to use the event to re-engage with North Korea and open the way for talks to resolve one of the world&#39;s most dangerous crises, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang have swapped nuclear threats.

&quot;I&#39;m announcing today the United States of America will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever,&quot; Pence said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

&quot;We will continue to isolate North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile program once and for all.&quot;

Washington has led a global campaign to force North Korea to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States and has taken a tougher line recently than its allies in Seoul, exposing tensions that South Korean President Moon Jae-in could struggle to conceal at the Olympics.

Pence has voiced scepticism that the North Korea will use the Games for crude propaganda. As his guest at the opening ceremony, he is taking the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died last year after being imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months.

Sitting in the same stadium as VIP guests will be Kim Yo Jong, 28-year-old sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea&#39;s nominal head of state.

Japan&#39;s Abe, whose nation has been within range of North Korean missiles for decades, will also attend the ceremony.

Kim Yo Jong would be the first member of the Kim family to cross the border to the South. She is a propaganda official and was blacklisted last year by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged human rights abuses and censorship.

&quot;It shows the North&#39;s resolve to defuse tension on the Korean peninsula,&quot; Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a news briefing.

Pence has not ruled out the prospect of meeting North Korean officials during the Games, but President Trump, whose daughter and adviser Ivanka will attend the Olympic closing ceremony, has cast doubt on the value of U.S. talks with Pyongyang anytime soon.

&quot;We will not allow North Korea to hide behind the Olympic banner the reality that they enslave their people and threaten the wider region,&quot; Pence said.

The White House has also cautioned against reading too much into remarks Pence made en route to Japan.

Analysts said that while Seoul appeared keen to set up a US-North Korea meeting, the chances of this happening did not look high.

&quot;The fact that the U.S. is bringing along Otto Warmbier&rsquo;s father suggests that their interest in engaging with the North Koreans while in Korea is pretty low,&quot; Abraham Denmark, a senior defence official under former President Barack Obama, told a conference call organised by the Wilson Center think tank.

The United States has said repeatedly that any future talks with North Korea must have the aim of North Korea&#39;s denuclearisation, something Pyongyang has rejected.

US&nbsp;Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters travelling with him on a visit to Jamaica that he did not anticipate a meeting at the Olympics, but &quot;it just depends on the circumstances as to whether this is the right time or not.&quot;

He added that sanctions pressure would continue &quot;until North Korea gets on a pathway to giving up its nuclear weapons&quot;.

&quot;That is an important message for the North Koreans to understand. Until you do something meaningful - sending some athletes and an orchestra down to Seoul, to show us that yes, you can play sports and you enjoy music - that doesn&rsquo;t change anything,&quot; he said.

South Korea asked the United Nations on Wednesday for an exemption to allow a UN&nbsp;sanctioned North Korean official, Choe Hwi, to attend the opening ceremony with Kim Yo Jong.

Pyongyang told Seoul that Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, would travel to Pyeongchang as part of its delegation.

The UN&nbsp;Security Council imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Choe on June 2 last year when he was vice director of the Workers&#39; Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, which controls ideological messaging through the media, arts and culture. Kim Yo Jong now holds that position.

Abe said he and Pence had agreed in talks that they could &quot;never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea&quot;.

Pence visited a Patriot PAC-3 missile battery, Japan&#39;s last line of defence against any strike from North Korea, which fired ballistic missiles over the country last year.

A group of 280 North Koreans arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to spur on athletes from the two sides at the Games. They included a 229-member cheer squad, taekwondo performers, journalists and the sports minister.

On Tuesday, a ferry carrying a North Korean orchestra arrived for the Games. Since it docked, North Korea has asked the South to provide oil for refuelling.

Oil has taken centre stage in global efforts to curb Pyongyang&#39;s nuclear and missile programmes, with Washington urging a drastic cut in energy supplies to the isolated country.

Speaking in Tokyo on his way to South Korea, which is hosting the Games over the next three weeks, Pence said he would soon announce the stepped-up sanctions in an effort to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes.

US Vice President Mike Pence vowed tough new sanctions against North Korea and called it the world's most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, two days before he is due to attend the winter Olympics, along with two of the North's most senior officials. Speaking in Tokyo on his way to South Korea, which is hosting the Games over the next three weeks, Pence said he would soon announce the stepped-up sanctions in an effort to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet that the sanctions would be unveiled "in the coming weeks" and urged all countries to fully implement existing UN sanctions and to back the U.S. pressure campaign by expelling North Korean "financial facilitators and trade reps". The Games, being staged 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily militarised border between the Koreas, is set for an awkward political encounter, with Pence as well as the North Korean leader's younger sister attending Friday's opening ceremony. South Korea wants to use the event to re-engage with North Korea and open the way for talks to resolve one of the world's most dangerous crises, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang have swapped nuclear threats. "I'm announcing today the United States of America will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever," Pence said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "We will continue to isolate North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile program once and for all." Washington has led a global campaign to force North Korea to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States and has taken a tougher line recently than its allies in Seoul, exposing tensions that South Korean President Moon Jae-in could struggle to conceal at the Olympics. Pence has voiced scepticism that the North Korea will use the Games for crude propaganda. As his guest at the opening ceremony, he is taking the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died last year after being imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months. Sitting in the same stadium as VIP guests will be Kim Yo Jong, 28-year-old sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's nominal head of state. Japan's Abe, whose nation has been within range of North Korean missiles for decades, will also attend the ceremony. Kim Yo Jong would be the first member of the Kim family to cross the border to the South. She is a propaganda official and was blacklisted last year by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged human rights abuses and censorship. "It shows the North's resolve to defuse tension on the Korean peninsula," Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a news briefing. Pence has not ruled out the prospect of meeting North Korean officials during the Games, but President Trump, whose daughter and adviser Ivanka will attend the Olympic closing ceremony, has cast doubt on the value of U.S. talks with Pyongyang anytime soon. "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. The White House has also cautioned against reading too much into remarks Pence made en route to Japan. Analysts said that while Seoul appeared keen to set up a US-North Korea meeting, the chances of this happening did not look high. "The fact that the U.S. is bringing along Otto Warmbier’s father suggests that their interest in engaging with the North Koreans while in Korea is pretty low," Abraham Denmark, a senior defence official under former President Barack Obama, told a conference call organised by the Wilson Center think tank. The United States has said repeatedly that any future talks with North Korea must have the aim of North Korea's denuclearisation, something Pyongyang has rejected. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters travelling with him on a visit to Jamaica that he did not anticipate a meeting at the Olympics, but "it just depends on the circumstances as to whether this is the right time or not." He added that sanctions pressure would continue "until North Korea gets on a pathway to giving up its nuclear weapons". "That is an important message for the North Koreans to understand. Until you do something meaningful - sending some athletes and an orchestra down to Seoul, to show us that yes, you can play sports and you enjoy music - that doesn’t change anything," he said. South Korea asked the United Nations on Wednesday for an exemption to allow a UN sanctioned North Korean official, Choe Hwi, to attend the opening ceremony with Kim Yo Jong. Pyongyang told Seoul that Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, would travel to Pyeongchang as part of its delegation. The UN Security Council imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Choe on June 2 last year when he was vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, which controls ideological messaging through the media, arts and culture. Kim Yo Jong now holds that position. Abe said he and Pence had agreed in talks that they could "never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea". Pence visited a Patriot PAC-3 missile battery, Japan's last line of defence against any strike from North Korea, which fired ballistic missiles over the country last year. A group of 280 North Koreans arrived in South Korea on Wednesday to spur on athletes from the two sides at the Games. They included a 229-member cheer squad, taekwondo performers, journalists and the sports minister. On Tuesday, a ferry carrying a North Korean orchestra arrived for the Games. Since it docked, North Korea has asked the South to provide oil for refuelling. Oil has taken centre stage in global efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes, with Washington urging a drastic cut in energy supplies to the isolated country.

Ahead of Olympics face-off, Mike Pence vows new North Korea sanctions

Hundreds of angry South Koreans protested Tuesday as a ship from North Korea carrying around 120 performers bound for the Olympics docked at the port of Donghae City.

Some were carrying pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with a huge X across his face while others crumpled the images and stamped them underfoot.

&quot;We are at a state of war and we are inviting the prostitutes of our enemy,&quot; one of the protesters said as the North Korean ship &#39;Mangyongbon 92&#39; docked at Mukho port

Earlier the protesters, carrying South Korean flags, marched around the port, chanting into amplified speakers: &quot;We oppose Pyongyang Olympics!&quot;&nbsp;

&quot;Why can&#39;t we carry our own flag at the opening ceremony -- because it&#39;s Pyongyang Olympics!&quot; a protester who came from Incheon told AFP.

North and South Korea will march as a unified team under a neutral Korean peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday.

Protesters believe North Korea has been allowed to hijack the Pyeongchang Games, and refer to them instead as the Pyongyang Olympics after the North Korean capital.

The Olympics have triggered an apparent rapprochement on the divided peninsula, where tensions have been high over the nuclear-armed North&#39;s weapons ambitions.

In a rare high-level meeting last month, the two Koreas agreed that North Korean athletes, cheerleaders, artistic troupes and other delegates would attend the Games beginning in the South&#39;s ski resort of Pyeongchang on Friday.

The troupe were seen off on their journey to the South on Monday from a train station in Pyongyang by officials including supreme leader Kim Jong-Un&#39;s sister, Yo-Jong, smiling broadly and wearing a black coat and grey fur scarf.

The North&#39;s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the art troupe, led by Hyon Song-Wol, head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, would hold a &quot;congratulatory performance&quot; for the Games in South Korea.

The orchestra will hold two performances at the Gangneung Art Centre on the eve of the opening ceremony of the February 9-25 Pyeongchang Olympics and at the National Theatre of Korea in Seoul on February 11.

&nbsp;

Amid all the chaos, North and South Korea will march as an unified team under a neutral Korean peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday

Hundreds of angry South Koreans protested Tuesday as a ship from North Korea carrying around 120 performers bound for the Olympics docked at the port of Donghae City. Some were carrying pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with a huge X across his face while others crumpled the images and stamped them underfoot. "We are at a state of war and we are inviting the prostitutes of our enemy," one of the protesters said as the North Korean ship 'Mangyongbon 92' docked at Mukho port Earlier the protesters, carrying South Korean flags, marched around the port, chanting into amplified speakers: "We oppose Pyongyang Olympics!" "Why can't we carry our own flag at the opening ceremony -- because it's Pyongyang Olympics!" a protester who came from Incheon told AFP. North and South Korea will march as a unified team under a neutral Korean peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday. Protesters believe North Korea has been allowed to hijack the Pyeongchang Games, and refer to them instead as the Pyongyang Olympics after the North Korean capital. The Olympics have triggered an apparent rapprochement on the divided peninsula, where tensions have been high over the nuclear-armed North's weapons ambitions. In a rare high-level meeting last month, the two Koreas agreed that North Korean athletes, cheerleaders, artistic troupes and other delegates would attend the Games beginning in the South's ski resort of Pyeongchang on Friday. The troupe were seen off on their journey to the South on Monday from a train station in Pyongyang by officials including supreme leader Kim Jong-Un's sister, Yo-Jong, smiling broadly and wearing a black coat and grey fur scarf. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the art troupe, led by Hyon Song-Wol, head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, would hold a "congratulatory performance" for the Games in South Korea. The orchestra will hold two performances at the Gangneung Art Centre on the eve of the opening ceremony of the February 9-25 Pyeongchang Olympics and at the National Theatre of Korea in Seoul on February 11.

Winter Olympics: North Korean art troupe hit by protests in South

With all the ethical and political problems facing the Olympics, do they still matter?

As someone who proudly wears his Olympic heart on his sleeve &mdash; I competed in the 1964 Games in Tokyo and have been involved in a variety of roles ever since &mdash; I get asked that question all the time, especially when another Games approach. And my answer is still in the affirmative.

While circumstances change, and I&rsquo;d like to think I make a fresh calculation each time, I still believe the Olympics contribute a net benefit to humanity. I&rsquo;m excited about the forthcoming Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

For those of us who pursue and watch sports, it&rsquo;s the only forum where the entire world gets to compete on a multi-sport basis. While it&rsquo;s the polar countries that excel, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics will attract competitors from an estimated 90 national communities, representing more than two-thirds of the world&rsquo;s population.

In an increasingly privatized sports place, with a hardening monoculture of fewer and fewer sports and competitors, the Olympics provide the greatest range of national and regional accessibility.

Provides support, visibility

For Canadians, it&rsquo;s the primary place where athletes in the rarely publicized but culturally important sports of skiing, skating, luge, skeleton and bobsled have recognized opportunities &mdash; and with few exceptions, the only time Canadian women and para-athletes get any significant support and visibility.

If it wasn&rsquo;t for the Olympics to stimulate government investment in women&rsquo;s and para sports and the worldwide coverage to attract advertisers, women and para-athletes would be even more underfunded and invisible in mainstream sports coverage than they are now.

So for those who believe in an equitable, broadly based and accessible sports system, the Olympics provide a very important incentive &mdash;and even legitimization.

It&rsquo;s also fantastic sport, and gives us a chance to see remarkable athletes from all across Canada go up against the best from other countries, and represent Canada to the world. I&rsquo;ll be glued to my television.

<figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204333/original/file-20180131-157470-1w1c2qw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204333/original/file-20180131-157470-1w1c2qw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" /></a>

<figcaption>
Author and former Olympian Bruce Kidd, seen here in a 1963 race in Philadelphia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

What&rsquo;s more, the Olympics make a genuine effort to affirm and encourage humanitarian international and intercultural education and exchange &mdash; no mean contribution in this increasingly war-torn, nativist and xenophobic world.
</figcaption>
</figure>

Bringing people together

In my long experience, this is real and sets the tone for the millions of sporting exchanges between people of widely different backgrounds that occur around the world throughout the year.

The joint North and South Korean team that will march and compete together in Pyeongchang, and the resumption of communication that it has initiated, is just one example where the Olympics and international sport have brought bitterly divided people into the same room for peaceful exchange.

The Olympics contribute significantly to the development of sports around the world, especially among the poorest countries, distributing a big share of its television revenue &mdash; US$509 million from 2017-20.

One priority is sport for refugees. The very first Refugee Olympic Team, made up of athletes from refugee camps in four different countries, competed in Rio in 2016. Many Olympic athletes, such as Canada&rsquo;s Rosie MacLennan, have been inspired by their experiences to contribute to sport for development across the Global South.

To be sure, the Olympics face a host of daunting challenges, including the ginormous costs of staging games, corruption in governance, human rights abuses and doping.

<figure class="align-left zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204334/original/file-20180131-157491-1w07cdf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204334/original/file-20180131-157491-1w07cdf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" /></a>

<figcaption>
Calgary is considering a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which would return the Games to the Prairies city for the first time since 1988. Here figure skater Brian Orser carries the Canadian flag at opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Calgary. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
</figcaption>
</figure>

The issues are so formidable that fewer and fewer cities are interested in hosting them, and in some liberal-democratic countries, voters have turned back bids. It remains to be seen whether Calgary will actually go ahead with plans <a href="http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Calgary-2026-Olympic-bid/Olympics-Bid-2026.aspx">to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics</a>.

Addressing many challenges

But I would also say the Olympic leadership is preoccupied with addressing these challenges. One solution to rising costs is to use existing facilities as much as possible, spread out new facilities, placing them where they are most needed as Toronto did for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, and reduce seating for spectators, recognizing that most of the world watches on television. The Olympics vigorously tries to prevent and punish doping, as the current spat with Russia readily indicates.

While the Olympics have introduced important reforms in recent years, including transparent financial accounting and an affirmation against discrimination based on an athlete&rsquo;s sexual orientation, it&rsquo;s not easy to introduce and implement progressive change in way that keeps the entire world together.

I am enraged by the Russians&rsquo; state-directed doping in Sochi and support Canadian Olympic leaders who call for them to be banned from Pyeongchang. Yet I have European friends who fear Russian isolation and applaud IOC president Thomas Bach&rsquo;s diplomatic gymnastics to balance sanctions and representation.

A big-tent approach requires a low threshold if you want everyone there. If we only competed with countries that shared our values, we would have very few competitors indeed. But it makes the world of Olympic sports very difficult to govern.

I&rsquo;m quite happy if people continue to be critical of Olympic practices or blind spots &mdash; I&rsquo;m critical of some of them too &mdash; but to give up on the project because the international sports world is not perfect would be really short-sighted. It would also deny Canadians an opportunity to participate in, and contribute to, a humanitarian movement that&rsquo;s still very important.

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-the-olympics-still-matter-90215" rel="nofollow" target="blank">original article</a>.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;&nbsp;

In an increasingly privatised sports place, with a hardening monoculture of fewer and fewer sports and competitors, the Olympics provide the greatest range of national and regional accessibility.

With all the ethical and political problems facing the Olympics, do they still matter? As someone who proudly wears his Olympic heart on his sleeve — I competed in the 1964 Games in Tokyo and have been involved in a variety of roles ever since — I get asked that question all the time, especially when another Games approach. And my answer is still in the affirmative. While circumstances change, and I’d like to think I make a fresh calculation each time, I still believe the Olympics contribute a net benefit to humanity. I’m excited about the forthcoming Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. For those of us who pursue and watch sports, it’s the only forum where the entire world gets to compete on a multi-sport basis. While it’s the polar countries that excel, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics will attract competitors from an estimated 90 national communities, representing more than two-thirds of the world’s population. In an increasingly privatized sports place, with a hardening monoculture of fewer and fewer sports and competitors, the Olympics provide the greatest range of national and regional accessibility. Provides support, visibility For Canadians, it’s the primary place where athletes in the rarely publicized but culturally important sports of skiing, skating, luge, skeleton and bobsled have recognized opportunities — and with few exceptions, the only time Canadian women and para-athletes get any significant support and visibility. If it wasn’t for the Olympics to stimulate government investment in women’s and para sports and the worldwide coverage to attract advertisers, women and para-athletes would be even more underfunded and invisible in mainstream sports coverage than they are now. So for those who believe in an equitable, broadly based and accessible sports system, the Olympics provide a very important incentive —and even legitimization. It’s also fantastic sport, and gives us a chance to see remarkable athletes from all across Canada go up against the best from other countries, and represent Canada to the world. I’ll be glued to my television. Author and former Olympian Bruce Kidd, seen here in a 1963 race in Philadelphia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP What’s more, the Olympics make a genuine effort to affirm and encourage humanitarian international and intercultural education and exchange — no mean contribution in this increasingly war-torn, nativist and xenophobic world. Bringing people together In my long experience, this is real and sets the tone for the millions of sporting exchanges between people of widely different backgrounds that occur around the world throughout the year. The joint North and South Korean team that will march and compete together in Pyeongchang, and the resumption of communication that it has initiated, is just one example where the Olympics and international sport have brought bitterly divided people into the same room for peaceful exchange. The Olympics contribute significantly to the development of sports around the world, especially among the poorest countries, distributing a big share of its television revenue — US$509 million from 2017-20. One priority is sport for refugees. The very first Refugee Olympic Team, made up of athletes from refugee camps in four different countries, competed in Rio in 2016. Many Olympic athletes, such as Canada’s Rosie MacLennan, have been inspired by their experiences to contribute to sport for development across the Global South. To be sure, the Olympics face a host of daunting challenges, including the ginormous costs of staging games, corruption in governance, human rights abuses and doping. Calgary is considering a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which would return the Games to the Prairies city for the first time since 1988. Here figure skater Brian Orser carries the Canadian flag at opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Calgary. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson) The issues are so formidable that fewer and fewer cities are interested in hosting them, and in some liberal-democratic countries, voters have turned back bids. It remains to be seen whether Calgary will actually go ahead with plans to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Addressing many challenges But I would also say the Olympic leadership is preoccupied with addressing these challenges. One solution to rising costs is to use existing facilities as much as possible, spread out new facilities, placing them where they are most needed as Toronto did for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, and reduce seating for spectators, recognizing that most of the world watches on television. The Olympics vigorously tries to prevent and punish doping, as the current spat with Russia readily indicates. While the Olympics have introduced important reforms in recent years, including transparent financial accounting and an affirmation against discrimination based on an athlete’s sexual orientation, it’s not easy to introduce and implement progressive change in way that keeps the entire world together. I am enraged by the Russians’ state-directed doping in Sochi and support Canadian Olympic leaders who call for them to be banned from Pyeongchang. Yet I have European friends who fear Russian isolation and applaud IOC president Thomas Bach’s diplomatic gymnastics to balance sanctions and representation. A big-tent approach requires a low threshold if you want everyone there. If we only competed with countries that shared our values, we would have very few competitors indeed. But it makes the world of Olympic sports very difficult to govern. I’m quite happy if people continue to be critical of Olympic practices or blind spots — I’m critical of some of them too — but to give up on the project because the international sports world is not perfect would be really short-sighted. It would also deny Canadians an opportunity to participate in, and contribute to, a humanitarian movement that’s still very important. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Do the Olympics still matter?

Olympics chief Thomas Bach on Monday said the Pyeongchang Winter Games brought &quot;real hope&quot; to the divided Korean peninsula and conceded there was no &quot;Plan B&quot; even when nuclear tensions put them under threat.

Bach was speaking four days ahead of the opening of the Games, which received a major boost when isolated North Korea ended months of bellicose posturing by agreeing to send a contingent of athletes.

&quot;The Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 have allowed another new beginning on the Korean peninsula,&quot; Bach told delegates at the opening ceremony for this week&#39;s International Olympic Committee (IOC) session.&nbsp;

&quot;They have opened the door for a peaceful dialogue between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People&#39;s Republic of Korea (North).

&quot;The Olympic spirit has brought two sides together that for too long were divided by mistrust and animosity.&nbsp;

&quot;The Olympic spirit has brought real hope for a brighter future for everyone on the Korean peninsula.&quot;

Bach said it had been a &quot;long and difficult journey&quot; to organise an Olympics in Korea, whose two sides are divided by a heavily fortified border -- just 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the Games site -- and remain technically at war.

Officials from France, Germany and Austria all expressed concerns about sending athletes as tensions spiralled last year, when North Korea fired a series of missile tests and exchanged threats of war with the United States.

But Bach said: &quot;In all the conversations we had, the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 were never put in doubt. On the contrary, we could always feel support.&quot;

&quot;Despite the sometimes worrying political circumstances, we were always standing at the side of our Korean hosts and never talked of a Plan B,&quot; he added.

&#39;Impossible dream&#39;

South Korean President Moon Jae-In has long argued for engagement to bring the North to the negotiating table over its nuclear ambitions.

But not all of his countrymen agree and there is a public perception that Moon&#39;s administration made too many concessions to the North to secure its participation at the Olympics.&nbsp;

Chiming with Bach, Moon said: &quot;Something truly wonderful is taking place in the divided and war-torn nation... throughout the world the message of peace is echoing.&quot;

&quot;One or two months ago, many countries were concerned with the safety of the Pyeongchang Olympic Games. North Korea&#39;s participating in the Games and a unified team under the banner of peace seemed like an impossible dream then,&quot; he added.

North Korea is sending 22 athletes to Pyeongchang, along with a large number of officials and an all-female cheer squad.

A unified Korean women&#39;s ice hockey team, whose squad includes 12 players from the North, on Sunday made its debut ahead of the Games, losing 3-1 to Sweden in a practice match.

The team has proved polarising in South Korea, where it has been blamed for a sudden drop in Moon&#39;s approval ratings.

While enthusiastic supporters cheered on the joint team, protesters chanting &quot;Pyongyang Olympics!&quot; also gathered outside, stamping on a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and ripping up the blue-and-white Korean unification flag.

&nbsp;

Bach said it had been a "long and difficult journey" to organise an Olympics in Korea, whose two sides are divided and remain technically at war

Olympics chief Thomas Bach on Monday said the Pyeongchang Winter Games brought "real hope" to the divided Korean peninsula and conceded there was no "Plan B" even when nuclear tensions put them under threat. Bach was speaking four days ahead of the opening of the Games, which received a major boost when isolated North Korea ended months of bellicose posturing by agreeing to send a contingent of athletes. "The Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 have allowed another new beginning on the Korean peninsula," Bach told delegates at the opening ceremony for this week's International Olympic Committee (IOC) session. "They have opened the door for a peaceful dialogue between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North). "The Olympic spirit has brought two sides together that for too long were divided by mistrust and animosity. "The Olympic spirit has brought real hope for a brighter future for everyone on the Korean peninsula." Bach said it had been a "long and difficult journey" to organise an Olympics in Korea, whose two sides are divided by a heavily fortified border -- just 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the Games site -- and remain technically at war. Officials from France, Germany and Austria all expressed concerns about sending athletes as tensions spiralled last year, when North Korea fired a series of missile tests and exchanged threats of war with the United States. But Bach said: "In all the conversations we had, the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 were never put in doubt. On the contrary, we could always feel support." "Despite the sometimes worrying political circumstances, we were always standing at the side of our Korean hosts and never talked of a Plan B," he added. 'Impossible dream' South Korean President Moon Jae-In has long argued for engagement to bring the North to the negotiating table over its nuclear ambitions. But not all of his countrymen agree and there is a public perception that Moon's administration made too many concessions to the North to secure its participation at the Olympics. Chiming with Bach, Moon said: "Something truly wonderful is taking place in the divided and war-torn nation... throughout the world the message of peace is echoing." "One or two months ago, many countries were concerned with the safety of the Pyeongchang Olympic Games. North Korea's participating in the Games and a unified team under the banner of peace seemed like an impossible dream then," he added. North Korea is sending 22 athletes to Pyeongchang, along with a large number of officials and an all-female cheer squad. A unified Korean women's ice hockey team, whose squad includes 12 players from the North, on Sunday made its debut ahead of the Games, losing 3-1 to Sweden in a practice match. The team has proved polarising in South Korea, where it has been blamed for a sudden drop in Moon's approval ratings. While enthusiastic supporters cheered on the joint team, protesters chanting "Pyongyang Olympics!" also gathered outside, stamping on a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and ripping up the blue-and-white Korean unification flag.

Pyeongchang Olympics brings 'real hope' to divided Koreas, says Bach

The 2018 <a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/south-korea-bans-36000-foreigners-from-entering-for-winter-olympics-reports-31814">Winter Olympics or PyeongChang 2018</a>, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.

The organisers of the upcoming Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic games are warning spectators that they will face sub-zero temperatures during the tournament.

This year&#39;s <a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/no-winter-olympics-for-russians-whose-life-bans-have-been-lifted-rules-ioc-31817">Winter Olympic games</a> may set a new record for being the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the roofless Olympic Stadium, a pentagonal arena that can accommodate around 40,000 people.

&quot;We&#39;re advising everyone, asking everyone to take sensible precautions,&quot; said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.

More than 100 dignitaries are also expected to attend the opening ceremony, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, US Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Freezing weather at the Winter Olympics may force some athletes and staff to pull out of Friday&#39;s opening ceremony as Pyeongchang shivers in temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

&nbsp;

Organisers of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic games are warning spectators that they will face sub-zero temperatures during the tournament

The 2018 Winter Olympics or PyeongChang 2018, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. The organisers of the upcoming Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic games are warning spectators that they will face sub-zero temperatures during the tournament. This year's Winter Olympic games may set a new record for being the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the roofless Olympic Stadium, a pentagonal arena that can accommodate around 40,000 people. "We're advising everyone, asking everyone to take sensible precautions," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. More than 100 dignitaries are also expected to attend the opening ceremony, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, US Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Freezing weather at the Winter Olympics may force some athletes and staff to pull out of Friday's opening ceremony as Pyeongchang shivers in temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Winter Olympics 2018 likely to be 'coldest' in history

The 2018 Winter Olympics or PyeongChang 2018, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.

Just a few days before the main event, South Korean security agencies have banned visitors to enter South Korea due to security reasons.

South Korea has banned 36,000 foreigners from entering the country ahead of the Winter Olympics, citing security concerns, Yonhap News Agency said on Monday.

Yonhap cited a South Korean lawmaker as saying the spy agency had told lawmakers it was working with foreign intelligence agencies to beef up foreign nationals&#39; identity checks as an anti-terrorism plan for the Olympics.

&nbsp;

South Korea has banned 36,000 foreigners from entering the country ahead of the Winter Olympics, citing security concerns

The 2018 Winter Olympics or PyeongChang 2018, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. Just a few days before the main event, South Korean security agencies have banned visitors to enter South Korea due to security reasons. South Korea has banned 36,000 foreigners from entering the country ahead of the Winter Olympics, citing security concerns, Yonhap News Agency said on Monday. Yonhap cited a South Korean lawmaker as saying the spy agency had told lawmakers it was working with foreign intelligence agencies to beef up foreign nationals' identity checks as an anti-terrorism plan for the Olympics.

Winter Olympics: South Korea bans entry of 36k foreigners due to 'security concern'

North Korea is flouting sanctions by exporting coal, iron, steel and other banned commodities, earning nearly $200 million in revenue last year, a UN report said Friday.

A UN panel of experts also found evidence of military cooperation by North Korea to develop Syria&#39;s chemical weapons programs and to provide Myanmar with ballistic missiles.&nbsp;

North Korea &quot;continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly $200 million in revenue between January and September 2017,&quot; said the report by the experts seen by AFP.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="row">
<div class="article-blockquote">
<div class="col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1 blockquote-content quoteshare">
<blockquote>
<h5>North Korea &#39;continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly $200 million in revenue between January and September 2017&#39;</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=North Korea 'continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly $200 million in revenue between January and September 2017'" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqquoteclosemark">&times;</a></div>
</div>
</div>

Coal shipments were delivered to China, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia and Vietnam by ships using &quot;a combination of multiple evasion techniques, routes and deceptive tactics,&quot; said the report.

The Security Council last year adopted a series of resolutions to tighten and expand exports bans aimed at cutting off revenue to North Korea&#39;s military programs.

The United States led the push for tough economic sanctions after North Korea&#39;s sixth nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile launches that raised fears that the US mainland could soon be within reach.

Seven ships have been barred from ports worldwide for violating UN sanctions with coal and petroleum transfers, but the experts said much more must be done to confront &quot;these rampant illicit activities.&quot;

The panel found that North Korea &quot;is already flouting the most recent resolutions by exploiting global oil supply chains, complicit foreign nationals, offshore company registries, and the international banking system.&quot;

Arming Syria, Myanmar 
Syria and Myanmar are continuing cooperation with North Korea&#39;s KOMID corporation, the country&#39;s main arms exporter, which is on a UN sanctions blacklist, the report said.

The panel uncovered more than 40 previously unreported shipments from North Korea between 2012 and 2017 to front companies for Syria&#39;s Scientific Studies Research Council, also known as CERS, a key institute for Syria&#39;s chemical program.&nbsp;

The investigations reveal &quot;substantial new evidence&quot; concerning Pyongyang&#39;s military cooperation with Damascus, including at least three visits by North Korean technicians to Syria in 2016.

A visit by a North Korean technical delegation in August 2016 involved the &quot;transfer of special resistance valves and thermometers known for use in chemical weapons programs,&quot; said the report.

A member-state that was not named told the panel that North Korean &quot;technicians continue to operate at chemical weapons and missile facilities at Barzei, Adra and Hama&quot; in Syria, said the report.

Syria however told the panel that there were no North Korean technicians in its territory and that the only experts it was hosting from the country were involved in sports.

A member-state, which was not named, also notified the panel that Myanmar had received &quot;ballistic missile systems from (North Korea) in addition to a range of conventional weapons, including multiple rocket launches and surface-to air missiles&quot;.&nbsp;

North Korean diplomats, in particular trade representatives, continue to provide logistical support for arms sales and help organize exchanges for military technicians, it said.

While sanctions have been significantly broadened, this &quot;expansion of the regime is yet to be matched by the requisite political will&quot; to implement the measures, the experts said.

The panel of experts said 2018 offered a &quot;critical window of opportunity before a potential miscalculation with disastrous implications for international peace and security.&quot; 
&nbsp;

Coal shipments were delivered to China, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia and Vietnam by ships using 'a combination of multiple evasion techniques, routes and deceptive tactics,' a UN report said

North Korea is flouting sanctions by exporting coal, iron, steel and other banned commodities, earning nearly $200 million in revenue last year, a UN report said Friday. A UN panel of experts also found evidence of military cooperation by North Korea to develop Syria's chemical weapons programs and to provide Myanmar with ballistic missiles. North Korea "continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly $200 million in revenue between January and September 2017," said the report by the experts seen by AFP. North Korea 'continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions, generating nearly $200 million in revenue between January and September 2017' × Coal shipments were delivered to China, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia and Vietnam by ships using "a combination of multiple evasion techniques, routes and deceptive tactics," said the report. The Security Council last year adopted a series of resolutions to tighten and expand exports bans aimed at cutting off revenue to North Korea's military programs. The United States led the push for tough economic sanctions after North Korea's sixth nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile launches that raised fears that the US mainland could soon be within reach. Seven ships have been barred from ports worldwide for violating UN sanctions with coal and petroleum transfers, but the experts said much more must be done to confront "these rampant illicit activities." The panel found that North Korea "is already flouting the most recent resolutions by exploiting global oil supply chains, complicit foreign nationals, offshore company registries, and the international banking system." Arming Syria, Myanmar Syria and Myanmar are continuing cooperation with North Korea's KOMID corporation, the country's main arms exporter, which is on a UN sanctions blacklist, the report said. The panel uncovered more than 40 previously unreported shipments from North Korea between 2012 and 2017 to front companies for Syria's Scientific Studies Research Council, also known as CERS, a key institute for Syria's chemical program. The investigations reveal "substantial new evidence" concerning Pyongyang's military cooperation with Damascus, including at least three visits by North Korean technicians to Syria in 2016. A visit by a North Korean technical delegation in August 2016 involved the "transfer of special resistance valves and thermometers known for use in chemical weapons programs," said the report. A member-state that was not named told the panel that North Korean "technicians continue to operate at chemical weapons and missile facilities at Barzei, Adra and Hama" in Syria, said the report. Syria however told the panel that there were no North Korean technicians in its territory and that the only experts it was hosting from the country were involved in sports. A member-state, which was not named, also notified the panel that Myanmar had received "ballistic missile systems from (North Korea) in addition to a range of conventional weapons, including multiple rocket launches and surface-to air missiles". North Korean diplomats, in particular trade representatives, continue to provide logistical support for arms sales and help organize exchanges for military technicians, it said. While sanctions have been significantly broadened, this "expansion of the regime is yet to be matched by the requisite political will" to implement the measures, the experts said. The panel of experts said 2018 offered a "critical window of opportunity before a potential miscalculation with disastrous implications for international peace and security."

North Korea flouting sanctions, earned $200 mn from banned exports: UN

North Korean winter Olympics team members and officials arrived at the athletes&#39; village in Gangneung late on Thursday night (February 1) after flying into Yangyang Airport.

The team, including figure skating pair Kim Ju Sik and Ryom Tae Ok, three alpine skiers, three cross-country skiers and two short-track skaters flew in to join 12 ice hockey players who arrived in South Korea last month.

North and South Korea had agreed to march under a single flag at the opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympics and field a united team in the women&#39;s ice hockey after rare inter-Korean talks were launched in early January.

The team, including figure skating pair Kim Ju Sik and Ryom Tae Ok, three alpine skiers, three cross-country skiers and two short-track skaters flew in to join 12 ice hockey players who arrived in South Korea last month

North Korean winter Olympics team members and officials arrived at the athletes' village in Gangneung late on Thursday night (February 1) after flying into Yangyang Airport. The team, including figure skating pair Kim Ju Sik and Ryom Tae Ok, three alpine skiers, three cross-country skiers and two short-track skaters flew in to join 12 ice hockey players who arrived in South Korea last month. North and South Korea had agreed to march under a single flag at the opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympics and field a united team in the women's ice hockey after rare inter-Korean talks were launched in early January.

North Korean Olympians arrive at athletes' village

The unified Korean women&#39;s ice hockey team faced an unexpected challenge at their first joint training session, reports said Monday -- vastly different hockey terminology on either side of the divided peninsula.

Seven decades of almost total separation after the 1950-53 Korean War, with all ordinary civilian contact blocked between North and South, has seen their once common language diverge in many respects.

The two Koreas still share the same writing system, known as Hangul -- an alphabet developed in the 15th century to replace Chinese characters.

But different words are emerging as they develop separately, and in the capitalist South, ice hockey players adapted the sounds of English words for most sporting terms.

Skating is called &quot;seu-ke-ee-ting&quot; and a &quot;t-push&quot; -- a defensive technique by a goalie -- is &quot;tee-pu-sh&quot;. &nbsp;

But the North created its own Korean-language words for each move, calling skating &quot;apuro jee chee gee&quot;, while a &quot;t-push&quot; is a &quot;moonjeegee eedong&quot;, literally meaning &quot;a move by a gatekeeper&quot;.

To overcome communication issues the South&#39;s&nbsp;sports&nbsp;authorities put together a list of the different vocabularies and distributed it to the players ahead of their first skate together on Sunday.

It also includes the English pronunciation of the North Korean terms -- apparently for the use of the South Korean team&#39;s Canadian coach Sarah Murray.

The list was intended &quot;to help players understand&quot;, one official of the Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) told the South&#39;s top-selling Chosun daily.

&quot;But people are still in the process of getting used to it, so we hear a mishmash of terms from both sides during practice.&quot;

Three letter code

The joint team was forged as part of peace efforts by Seoul to use the Pyeongchang Winter Games in the South to ease tension on the flashpoint peninsula. &nbsp;

The atmosphere at the first practice was &quot;serious but amicable&quot;, Seoul&#39;s News1 news agency said, citing an KIHA official, adding many Northern players had demonstrated &quot;great focus and fighting spirit&quot;. &nbsp;

Since the division of the peninsula, the two Koreas have only competed as unified teams in 1991, when their women won the team gold at the world table tennis championship in Japan, and their under-19 footballers reached the world championship quarter-finals in Portugal.

North and South have their own three-letter Olympic country codes -- PRK and KOR respectively, for People&#39;s Republic of Korea and Korean Republic -- and the unified team has been accorded its own country code, COR, from the French word for Korea, Cor&eacute;e.&nbsp;

The ice hockey squad is made up of 23 South Korean players and 12 Northerners, who crossed the Demilitarized Zone last week. They are scheduled to hold a warm-up match against Sweden on Sunday.

But the last-minute creation of the team sparked controversy among many South Koreans who accused Seoul of using athletes for political purposes and robbing Southern players of opportunities to compete at the Olympics.&nbsp;

The North will send another 10 athletes to take part in the Games in other&nbsp;sports including cross-country skiing and figure skating after its leader Kim Jong-Un announced a plan to join the event in his New Year speech.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

To overcome communication issues the South's sports authorities put together a list of the different vocabularies and distributed it to the players

The unified Korean women's ice hockey team faced an unexpected challenge at their first joint training session, reports said Monday -- vastly different hockey terminology on either side of the divided peninsula. Seven decades of almost total separation after the 1950-53 Korean War, with all ordinary civilian contact blocked between North and South, has seen their once common language diverge in many respects. The two Koreas still share the same writing system, known as Hangul -- an alphabet developed in the 15th century to replace Chinese characters. But different words are emerging as they develop separately, and in the capitalist South, ice hockey players adapted the sounds of English words for most sporting terms. Skating is called "seu-ke-ee-ting" and a "t-push" -- a defensive technique by a goalie -- is "tee-pu-sh". But the North created its own Korean-language words for each move, calling skating "apuro jee chee gee", while a "t-push" is a "moonjeegee eedong", literally meaning "a move by a gatekeeper". To overcome communication issues the South's sports authorities put together a list of the different vocabularies and distributed it to the players ahead of their first skate together on Sunday. It also includes the English pronunciation of the North Korean terms -- apparently for the use of the South Korean team's Canadian coach Sarah Murray. The list was intended "to help players understand", one official of the Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) told the South's top-selling Chosun daily. "But people are still in the process of getting used to it, so we hear a mishmash of terms from both sides during practice." Three letter code The joint team was forged as part of peace efforts by Seoul to use the Pyeongchang Winter Games in the South to ease tension on the flashpoint peninsula. The atmosphere at the first practice was "serious but amicable", Seoul's News1 news agency said, citing an KIHA official, adding many Northern players had demonstrated "great focus and fighting spirit". Since the division of the peninsula, the two Koreas have only competed as unified teams in 1991, when their women won the team gold at the world table tennis championship in Japan, and their under-19 footballers reached the world championship quarter-finals in Portugal. North and South have their own three-letter Olympic country codes -- PRK and KOR respectively, for People's Republic of Korea and Korean Republic -- and the unified team has been accorded its own country code, COR, from the French word for Korea, Corée. The ice hockey squad is made up of 23 South Korean players and 12 Northerners, who crossed the Demilitarized Zone last week. They are scheduled to hold a warm-up match against Sweden on Sunday. But the last-minute creation of the team sparked controversy among many South Koreans who accused Seoul of using athletes for political purposes and robbing Southern players of opportunities to compete at the Olympics. The North will send another 10 athletes to take part in the Games in other sports including cross-country skiing and figure skating after its leader Kim Jong-Un announced a plan to join the event in his New Year speech.

Winter Olympics: Unified Korean ice hockey team lost in translation

South Korea said today that North Korea <a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/winter-olympics-unified-korean-ice-hockey-team-lost-in-translation-31075">has called off joint Olympic performance</a> on its soil, the South Korean government said today.

North Korea had <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-imposes-more-north-korea-sanctions-urges-china-russia-expulsions-30761">earlier agreed to form a unified </a>women&#39;s ice hockey team with the South in what the authorities have dubbed&nbsp;the &quot;peace Olympics&quot;. The two teams have already begun practicing together for the Winter Games.

The ice hockey squad comprises of &nbsp;23 South Korean players and 12 North Koreans.

The North Koreans are due to send another 10 athletes to take part in the Winter Games in other sports including cross-country skiing and figure skating.

The Winter Olympics due to start in Pyeongchang next month has been the center of North and South Korean peace moves for the last one month although South&#39;s unification minister had urged North Korea last week that Pyongyang should seize the opportunity to talk to Washington.&nbsp;

Both South Korea and the US have decided to put military exercises on hold till the Winter Olympics and Paralympics end on March 25th.

Amid the peace moves, reports say North Korea is preparing a military parade in Pyongyang on February 8th, a day before the Winter Olympics&#39; opening ceremony.

The ice hockey squad comprises of 23 South Korean players and 12 North Koreans.

South Korea said today that North Korea has called off joint Olympic performance on its soil, the South Korean government said today. North Korea had earlier agreed to form a unified women's ice hockey team with the South in what the authorities have dubbed the "peace Olympics". The two teams have already begun practicing together for the Winter Games. The ice hockey squad comprises of 23 South Korean players and 12 North Koreans. The North Koreans are due to send another 10 athletes to take part in the Winter Games in other sports including cross-country skiing and figure skating. The Winter Olympics due to start in Pyeongchang next month has been the center of North and South Korean peace moves for the last one month although South's unification minister had urged North Korea last week that Pyongyang should seize the opportunity to talk to Washington. Both South Korea and the US have decided to put military exercises on hold till the Winter Olympics and Paralympics end on March 25th. Amid the peace moves, reports say North Korea is preparing a military parade in Pyongyang on February 8th, a day before the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony.

North Korea won't hold joint Olympic performance on own soil: South Korea

The woman appointed to try to reverse the world&#39;s lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Korea&#39;s female populace to procreate have failed -- she is among the millions who have chosen to remain childless in the face of traditionalist social expectations.

A history professor at a Seoul University before joining the government, family minister Chung Hyun-Back says she remained single to pursue her professional ambitions.

Entrenched gender roles at home and a workaholic culture are pushing the next generation of South Korean women to follow suit, warned the 64-year-old.

&quot;It was extremely difficult -- if not impossible -- to juggle an academic career while getting married and raising children,&quot; she explained, pointing out that many female professors in their 50s and 60s are single.

Rapid economic growth over several decades has seen South Korea&#39;s GDP boom, but birth rates have gone in the opposite direction.&nbsp;

The country&#39;s fertility rate -- an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime -- stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4.&nbsp;

It is set to fall to a record low of 1.07 for 2017 after the number of newborns sank below 400,000 for the first time.&nbsp;

The trend, coupled with the rapid ageing of its 50-million populace, casts a pall over the nation&#39;s future -- its population is projected to start shrinking in 2050.

Experts blame sky-high housing prices, the costs of raising children, and fears over unemployment.&nbsp;

But Chung told AFP: &quot;For years, we have overlooked the real culprit of the problem -- our country&#39;s vast gender disparity and inhumanely long working hours.&quot;

South Korea has the second-highest average working hours in the OECD but women are still expected to be children&#39;s primary caregiver, whether they work or not.

Many firms prefer to drive pregnant staff to resign rather than pay for maternity leave, and those who return to work are seen as having damaged their career prospects.

&quot;Under such unfair circumstances, young women usually choose their career, not marriage and childbirth,&quot; says Chung.

The phenomenon has been dubbed a &quot;birth strike&quot;.

&quot;Unless we tackle these problems head-on, South Korea&#39;s future will remain murky with the young generation staying away from marriage -- not to mention childbirth,&quot; said Chung.&nbsp;

A recent survey showed 68 percent of female college students intended to marry -- compared to 80 percent for males. Dual burdens at home and work were the top concern cited by the women who did not intend to marry.

Among the world&#39;s advanced economies South Korea&nbsp;consistently ranks at the bottom of OECD surveys on gender pay gaps or female presence in senior positions.&nbsp;

Yet the reverse is true in education: girls beat boys in scholastic achievement tests, with about 75 percent of them going to college compared to 67 percent for their male counterparts.

About 70 percent of South Korean women in their 20s have jobs, compared to 60 percent of men.

But in their 30s the female employment rate dives to about 55 percent, far below males&#39; 90 percent.

Many bemoan the double load on working mothers.

&quot;My male bosses complain that their working wives are selfish and too ambitious at work if the wives fail to pick up children from daycare on time,&quot; said one online commentator.&nbsp;

&quot;When I leave work on time to pick up my own kids, they also complain that women are useless, selfish and lack career ambition.&quot;

Even in dual-income households women spend more than three hours on household chores and childcare a day on average -- compared to a mere 44 minutes by men.

Marriage is &quot;nothing but a graveyard for all smart, aspirant women out there&quot;, said another poster.

Seoul has mounted billion-dollar campaigns in a effort to reverse the decline, but the drives have been criticised for doing little more than preach at women to marry and reproduce -- in one notorious instance, an online &quot;birth map&quot; showed the number of women of childbearing age by district, city, and region.

At his New Year press conference left-leaning President Moon Jae-In said his government would reduce working hours and &quot;strive to build a society where women can still lead their life pursuing their own values when they get married, give birth and raise children&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Five of the 19 members of the cabinet are women, a record high of 28 percent, including Chung and Kang Kyung-Wha, the country&#39;s first female foreign minister.&nbsp;

Seoul has also set non-binding quotas for women in senior roles at state agencies and state-run companies, and increased financial support for men taking paternity leave and their employers, while rolling out more benefits for long-stigmatised unwed mothers.&nbsp;

The government hopes that by changing the wider social atmosphere, private firms will be encouraged to follow suit.&nbsp;

Chung conceded it will be a challenge to change the view that &quot;childcare is women&#39;s work&quot; but warned: &quot;Our country&#39;s future may depend on whether we can break these social customs.&quot;

The country's fertility rate -- an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime -- stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4

The woman appointed to try to reverse the world's lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Korea's female populace to procreate have failed -- she is among the millions who have chosen to remain childless in the face of traditionalist social expectations. A history professor at a Seoul University before joining the government, family minister Chung Hyun-Back says she remained single to pursue her professional ambitions. Entrenched gender roles at home and a workaholic culture are pushing the next generation of South Korean women to follow suit, warned the 64-year-old. "It was extremely difficult -- if not impossible -- to juggle an academic career while getting married and raising children," she explained, pointing out that many female professors in their 50s and 60s are single. Rapid economic growth over several decades has seen South Korea's GDP boom, but birth rates have gone in the opposite direction. The country's fertility rate -- an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime -- stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4. It is set to fall to a record low of 1.07 for 2017 after the number of newborns sank below 400,000 for the first time. The trend, coupled with the rapid ageing of its 50-million populace, casts a pall over the nation's future -- its population is projected to start shrinking in 2050. Experts blame sky-high housing prices, the costs of raising children, and fears over unemployment. But Chung told AFP: "For years, we have overlooked the real culprit of the problem -- our country's vast gender disparity and inhumanely long working hours." South Korea has the second-highest average working hours in the OECD but women are still expected to be children's primary caregiver, whether they work or not. Many firms prefer to drive pregnant staff to resign rather than pay for maternity leave, and those who return to work are seen as having damaged their career prospects. "Under such unfair circumstances, young women usually choose their career, not marriage and childbirth," says Chung. The phenomenon has been dubbed a "birth strike". "Unless we tackle these problems head-on, South Korea's future will remain murky with the young generation staying away from marriage -- not to mention childbirth," said Chung. A recent survey showed 68 percent of female college students intended to marry -- compared to 80 percent for males. Dual burdens at home and work were the top concern cited by the women who did not intend to marry. Among the world's advanced economies South Korea consistently ranks at the bottom of OECD surveys on gender pay gaps or female presence in senior positions. Yet the reverse is true in education: girls beat boys in scholastic achievement tests, with about 75 percent of them going to college compared to 67 percent for their male counterparts. About 70 percent of South Korean women in their 20s have jobs, compared to 60 percent of men. But in their 30s the female employment rate dives to about 55 percent, far below males' 90 percent. Many bemoan the double load on working mothers. "My male bosses complain that their working wives are selfish and too ambitious at work if the wives fail to pick up children from daycare on time," said one online commentator. "When I leave work on time to pick up my own kids, they also complain that women are useless, selfish and lack career ambition." Even in dual-income households women spend more than three hours on household chores and childcare a day on average -- compared to a mere 44 minutes by men. Marriage is "nothing but a graveyard for all smart, aspirant women out there", said another poster. Seoul has mounted billion-dollar campaigns in a effort to reverse the decline, but the drives have been criticised for doing little more than preach at women to marry and reproduce -- in one notorious instance, an online "birth map" showed the number of women of childbearing age by district, city, and region. At his New Year press conference left-leaning President Moon Jae-In said his government would reduce working hours and "strive to build a society where women can still lead their life pursuing their own values when they get married, give birth and raise children". Five of the 19 members of the cabinet are women, a record high of 28 percent, including Chung and Kang Kyung-Wha, the country's first female foreign minister. Seoul has also set non-binding quotas for women in senior roles at state agencies and state-run companies, and increased financial support for men taking paternity leave and their employers, while rolling out more benefits for long-stigmatised unwed mothers. The government hopes that by changing the wider social atmosphere, private firms will be encouraged to follow suit. Chung conceded it will be a challenge to change the view that "childcare is women's work" but warned: "Our country's future may depend on whether we can break these social customs."

The woman battling South Korea's 'birth strike'

Two contradictory events set an uneven tone for the Korean Crisis. China condemns the 20 nation who are calling for tougher sanctions against North Korea. In a meeting held this week in Canada, these nations attempted to pressurise North Korea in giving up its nuclear weapons, without the participation of China and Russia.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

At the same time, the two Koreas decided to march together at the Olympics opening ceremony under a white &quot;unification flag&quot;, showing the Korean peninsula, and agree to field united ice hockey team in February 2018. The two Koreas also agreed to field a united women&#39;s ice hockey team, and have joint participation in Para-Olympics in March 2018. Such plans give an indication that the &lsquo;Sports Diplomacy&rsquo; of Koreans may be the first step to some face-saving settlement of the North Korean issue, but it is not as simple as it appears to be.

&nbsp;

During the Vancouver meeting, the United States continued to threaten North Korea with the option of military response in case North Korea decides not to talk as per the conditions laid down by the US. The US has reasons to say so because nuclearisation and weaponisation of North Korea is no more a local issue between the North and South Korea but its dimension has grown beyond the region up to the mainland of US now. North Korea indicates a willingness to talk, but without precondition.

&nbsp;

China might be feeling that these talks are an extension of the erstwhile cold war, isolating China, Russia and North Korea. Chinese see it as an attempt of the US to convince the world community about exhaustion of all peaceful options, before actually going for a possible military option.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Although the world community will like China to do more but China has no moral standpoint to urge North Korea to follow the non-nuclear path. The North can turn back to tell China, that it is going nuclear exactly for the same reason China went nuclear - to ensure its survival against the US.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The use of nuclear capability as insurance for its defence, was cited as the main reason by almost every country, which added nuclear weapons to its arsenal. When Israel went nuclear, it developed a survival capability to dissuade all hostile neighbouring Arab countries. North Korea has been and will continue to use this logic for its missiles/nuclear tests/ misadventures so far, which revolves around its own security concerns and survival of the regime of Kim. It justifies it as a defensive measure against the US threat; in the past, the US was involved in regime changes at Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries which did not follow its dictate. None of these countries had nuclear capabilities, hence, it was incapable of threatening either the US or its allies.

&nbsp;

The unfortunate part is that this threat is a byproduct of selective leakage of nuclear and missile technology by some irresponsible countries, despite signing NPT. This has led to a dangerous situation where global community is suffering from a threat of nuclear blackmailing by states like North Korea and Pakistan today and, may be, by militants in future if they can lay their hand on dirty bomb or tactical nukes. It may, therefore, be prudent to think that China and Russia may not have that strong a leverage over North Korea as it is made out to be. It is also a matter of concern and suspicion that Kim cannot become so nice and reasonable suddenly.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

What seems to be on is a crisis avoidance exercise by North Korea to prevent a nuclear war for the time being by &ldquo;Sports Diplomacy&rdquo;. The danger is that it gives adequate time to North Korea to complete his nuclear ambitions, and it may reach a state where the reversal may not be possible (if it has not reached there already).

&nbsp;

The fact that the US decided to postpone military exercises beyond the winter Olympics indicates that a tacit understanding exists between the US and South Korea. The positive part is that there is some beginning to resolve this crisis without loss of face to either side, hence, it is best practical beginning in the given circumstances, which will have to be pursued. The options in any case are shrinking.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Korean Peninsula will have to be accepted as a flashpoint. No one will deliberately like to initiate war, but it will continue to be prone to accidental triggers. The status quo ante is not an option because if no action is taken against North Korea, the world will have live with the problem of nuclear blackmailing and countries like Pakistan working on similar philosophy may also be encouraged. Moreover, it will have a cascading effect as Japan and Iran may go nuclear and South Korea may ask for tactical nukes.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;&nbsp;

What seems to be on is a crisis avoidance exercise by North Korea to prevent a nuclear war for the time being by “Sports Diplomacy”.

Two contradictory events set an uneven tone for the Korean Crisis. China condemns the 20 nation who are calling for tougher sanctions against North Korea. In a meeting held this week in Canada, these nations attempted to pressurise North Korea in giving up its nuclear weapons, without the participation of China and Russia. At the same time, the two Koreas decided to march together at the Olympics opening ceremony under a white "unification flag", showing the Korean peninsula, and agree to field united ice hockey team in February 2018. The two Koreas also agreed to field a united women's ice hockey team, and have joint participation in Para-Olympics in March 2018. Such plans give an indication that the ‘Sports Diplomacy’ of Koreans may be the first step to some face-saving settlement of the North Korean issue, but it is not as simple as it appears to be. During the Vancouver meeting, the United States continued to threaten North Korea with the option of military response in case North Korea decides not to talk as per the conditions laid down by the US. The US has reasons to say so because nuclearisation and weaponisation of North Korea is no more a local issue between the North and South Korea but its dimension has grown beyond the region up to the mainland of US now. North Korea indicates a willingness to talk, but without precondition. China might be feeling that these talks are an extension of the erstwhile cold war, isolating China, Russia and North Korea. Chinese see it as an attempt of the US to convince the world community about exhaustion of all peaceful options, before actually going for a possible military option. Although the world community will like China to do more but China has no moral standpoint to urge North Korea to follow the non-nuclear path. The North can turn back to tell China, that it is going nuclear exactly for the same reason China went nuclear - to ensure its survival against the US. The use of nuclear capability as insurance for its defence, was cited as the main reason by almost every country, which added nuclear weapons to its arsenal. When Israel went nuclear, it developed a survival capability to dissuade all hostile neighbouring Arab countries. North Korea has been and will continue to use this logic for its missiles/nuclear tests/ misadventures so far, which revolves around its own security concerns and survival of the regime of Kim. It justifies it as a defensive measure against the US threat; in the past, the US was involved in regime changes at Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries which did not follow its dictate. None of these countries had nuclear capabilities, hence, it was incapable of threatening either the US or its allies. The unfortunate part is that this threat is a byproduct of selective leakage of nuclear and missile technology by some irresponsible countries, despite signing NPT. This has led to a dangerous situation where global community is suffering from a threat of nuclear blackmailing by states like North Korea and Pakistan today and, may be, by militants in future if they can lay their hand on dirty bomb or tactical nukes. It may, therefore, be prudent to think that China and Russia may not have that strong a leverage over North Korea as it is made out to be. It is also a matter of concern and suspicion that Kim cannot become so nice and reasonable suddenly. What seems to be on is a crisis avoidance exercise by North Korea to prevent a nuclear war for the time being by “Sports Diplomacy”. The danger is that it gives adequate time to North Korea to complete his nuclear ambitions, and it may reach a state where the reversal may not be possible (if it has not reached there already). The fact that the US decided to postpone military exercises beyond the winter Olympics indicates that a tacit understanding exists between the US and South Korea. The positive part is that there is some beginning to resolve this crisis without loss of face to either side, hence, it is best practical beginning in the given circumstances, which will have to be pursued. The options in any case are shrinking. Korean Peninsula will have to be accepted as a flashpoint. No one will deliberately like to initiate war, but it will continue to be prone to accidental triggers. The status quo ante is not an option because if no action is taken against North Korea, the world will have live with the problem of nuclear blackmailing and countries like Pakistan working on similar philosophy may also be encouraged. Moreover, it will have a cascading effect as Japan and Iran may go nuclear and South Korea may ask for tactical nukes. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Is sports diplomacy a new game plan of North Korea?

North Korea will send around 230 people as a single cheering squad to the Winter Olympics in the South next month, South Korea&#39;s unification ministry said in a statement after officials from the two Koreas held talks on Wednesday.

North and South Korea have been talking since last week regarding Pyongyang&#39;s participation in the Olympics. The ministry said the two sides exchanged opinions on several issues, including the size of the North Korean athletics team, joint cultural events and use of the Masikryong ski report in North Korea.

There were reports of both countries coming together to host a joint skating and ice-hockey team but it hasn&#39;t been confirmed.

Kim Jong Un regime had decided to send athletes, officials, performers including its famed skating team for Pyeongchang Games which is situated 80 kilometres from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

&quot;Inter-Korean relations have been strained for almost 10 years,&quot; the North&#39;s chief delegate Jon Jong-Su said, adding,&quot;We hope that ties can open.&quot;

There were reports of both countries coming together to host a joint skating and ice-hockey team but it hasn't been confirmed.

North Korea will send around 230 people as a single cheering squad to the Winter Olympics in the South next month, South Korea's unification ministry said in a statement after officials from the two Koreas held talks on Wednesday. North and South Korea have been talking since last week regarding Pyongyang's participation in the Olympics. The ministry said the two sides exchanged opinions on several issues, including the size of the North Korean athletics team, joint cultural events and use of the Masikryong ski report in North Korea. There were reports of both countries coming together to host a joint skating and ice-hockey team but it hasn't been confirmed. Kim Jong Un regime had decided to send athletes, officials, performers including its famed skating team for Pyeongchang Games which is situated 80 kilometres from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). "Inter-Korean relations have been strained for almost 10 years," the North's chief delegate Jon Jong-Su said, adding,"We hope that ties can open."

North Korea to send 230 cheerleaders for Winter Olympics

The two&nbsp;Koreas agreed during rare talks on Wednesday to form a combined women&#39;s ice hockey team to take part in next month&#39;s Winter Olympics in the South, and march together under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony, a joint statement released by Seoul&#39;s unification ministry said.

North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;will send a 550-member delegation, including 230 cheerleaders, 140 artists and 30 Taekwondo players for a demonstration, the statement said.

The delegation is scheduled to begin arriving in South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;on Jan. 25, the statement said.

The delegation is scheduled to begin arriving in South Korea on Jan 25

The two Koreas agreed during rare talks on Wednesday to form a combined women's ice hockey team to take part in next month's Winter Olympics in the South, and march together under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony, a joint statement released by Seoul's unification ministry said. North Korea will send a 550-member delegation, including 230 cheerleaders, 140 artists and 30 Taekwondo players for a demonstration, the statement said. The delegation is scheduled to begin arriving in South Korea on Jan. 25, the statement said.

Koreas to form unified ice hockey team, march together at Winter Olympics

As a South Korean delegation started preparations for another round of talks with North Koran officials on participation in the Winter Olympics next month, top Japanese and US officials said North Korea&#39;s &quot;charm offensive&quot; should not be underestimated.

At a meeting in Vancouver&nbsp;where top officials from 20 countries have gathered, Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono said: &quot;It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea,&quot; adding, &quot;The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working,&quot; the minister said.

&quot;The world should not be naive about North Korea&#39;s &quot;charm offensive&quot;, the minister added.

Agreeing with Japan, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said: &quot;We must increase the costs of the regime&#39;s behaviour to the point that North Korea must come to the table for credible negotiations.&quot;

Tillerson said North Korea must not be allowed &quot;to drive a wedge&quot; through allied resolve or solidarity and rejected China and Russia&#39;s proposal of stopping military exercises around the Korean peninsula.

The United States and close allies agreed on tougher &quot;maritime interdiction&quot; to prevent North Korea from evading nuclear sanctions.

Tillerson&nbsp;said at the talks in Vancouver that the allies do not want to interfere with &quot;legitimate shipping&quot; but warned that action would be taken to stop sanctions-busting &quot;ship-to-ship&quot; transfers at sea.&nbsp;The US moved three B-2 bombers along the Korean peninsula ahead of the Winter Olympics in what the US officials said was &quot;deterrent options to maintain regional stability.&quot;

The US government has sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the western Pacific including the USS Wasp which reached southern Japan recently.&nbsp;USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier has also been stationed by the US along the Japanese coastline.

Tillerson added that countries attending the Vancouver conference aimed to improve the effectiveness of &quot;maximum pressure&quot; campaign on Pyongyang while urging North Korea&#39;s principal ally China and Russia to fully implement UN sanctions.

&quot;We cannot abide lapses or sanctions evasion,&quot; Tillerson said.&nbsp;

&quot;We will continue to call attention to, and designate, entities and individuals complicit in such actions,&quot; the US secretary of state added.

The United States and close allies agreed on tougher "maritime interdiction" to prevent North Korea from evading nuclear sanctions

As a South Korean delegation started preparations for another round of talks with North Koran officials on participation in the Winter Olympics next month, top Japanese and US officials said North Korea's "charm offensive" should not be underestimated. At a meeting in Vancouver where top officials from 20 countries have gathered, Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono said: "It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea," adding, "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working," the minister said. "The world should not be naive about North Korea's "charm offensive", the minister added. Agreeing with Japan, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said: "We must increase the costs of the regime's behaviour to the point that North Korea must come to the table for credible negotiations." Tillerson said North Korea must not be allowed "to drive a wedge" through allied resolve or solidarity and rejected China and Russia's proposal of stopping military exercises around the Korean peninsula. The United States and close allies agreed on tougher "maritime interdiction" to prevent North Korea from evading nuclear sanctions. Tillerson said at the talks in Vancouver that the allies do not want to interfere with "legitimate shipping" but warned that action would be taken to stop sanctions-busting "ship-to-ship" transfers at sea. The US moved three B-2 bombers along the Korean peninsula ahead of the Winter Olympics in what the US officials said was "deterrent options to maintain regional stability." The US government has sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the western Pacific including the USS Wasp which reached southern Japan recently. USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier has also been stationed by the US along the Japanese coastline. Tillerson added that countries attending the Vancouver conference aimed to improve the effectiveness of "maximum pressure" campaign on Pyongyang while urging North Korea's principal ally China and Russia to fully implement UN sanctions. "We cannot abide lapses or sanctions evasion," Tillerson said. "We will continue to call attention to, and designate, entities and individuals complicit in such actions," the US secretary of state added.

World should not be naive about North Korea's 'charm offensive': Japan

US has moved three B-2 bombers around the Korean Peninsula along with several hundred military personnel ahead of the Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea next month, reports said.

The military build-up comes even as both Koreas engage in talks over the&nbsp;Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Trump administration had earlier postponed military drills with South Korea but had continued its military presence even as it welcomed talks between the two countries.

In a statement, the US government said the deployment is intended to provide leaders with &quot;deterrent options to maintain regional stability.&quot;

The US government has sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the western Pacific. The Navy called it a &quot;regular scheduled deployment&quot;.

Meanwhile, the USS Wasp reached southern Japan. USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is also in the region off Japan.&nbsp;The 40,00-ton, 844-foot-long Wasp is an aircraft carrier built in the 80s. It hosts Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jets.

In addition, several thousand marines are also deployed in the area. 
 
The North Korean government in a statement said: &quot;Such moves are an unpardonable military provocation chilling the atmosphere for improved inter-Korean relations.&quot;

The military build-up comes even as both Koreas engage in talks over the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

US has moved three B-2 bombers around the Korean Peninsula along with several hundred military personnel ahead of the Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea next month, reports said. The military build-up comes even as both Koreas engage in talks over the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The Trump administration had earlier postponed military drills with South Korea but had continued its military presence even as it welcomed talks between the two countries. In a statement, the US government said the deployment is intended to provide leaders with "deterrent options to maintain regional stability." The US government has sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the western Pacific. The Navy called it a "regular scheduled deployment". Meanwhile, the USS Wasp reached southern Japan. USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is also in the region off Japan. The 40,00-ton, 844-foot-long Wasp is an aircraft carrier built in the 80s. It hosts Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jets. In addition, several thousand marines are also deployed in the area. The North Korean government in a statement said: "Such moves are an unpardonable military provocation chilling the atmosphere for improved inter-Korean relations."

US moves aircraft carries, B-2 bombers to Pacific ahead of Winter Olympics in South Korea

North Korea&#39;s principal ally <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/pyeongchang-winter-olympics-2-north-korean-skaters-seek-date-with-destiny-at-peace-games-29172">Russia said today it supports &quot;direct talks&quot;</a> between the two Korean nations to diffuse the missile crisis.

Russian<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/south-korean-president-willing-to-hold-summit-with-kim-jong-un-29072"> foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said</a> Moscow is ready for direct talks even as North and South Korean officials continued to reach out to each other over the next month&#39;s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Russia, a long-time of ally of Kim&#39;s regime, has consistently opposed US sanctions on North Korea even as Trump requested the Putin-led government to stop oil imports to the country.

Last month, two senior European security experts had said Russian tankers supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, Reuters had reported.

Russia&#39;s foreign ministry and the Russian customs service both refused to comment on the oil supply to North Korea.

The US State Department, in a statement, called on Russia and other UN members to &quot;strictly implement&quot; sanctions on North Korea and to work &quot;more closely together to shut down UN-prohibited activities, including ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum and the transport of coal from North Korea.&quot;

Meanwhile, North Korea is also planning to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in addition to the athletes and performance group.&nbsp;

Media reports said South Korea is seeking to form a united women&#39;s ice hockey team for the &nbsp;Winter Olympics, although it hasn&#39;t been confirmed.

Media reports said South Korea is seeking to form a united women's ice hockey team for the Winter Olympics, although it hasn't been confirmed.

North Korea's principal ally Russia said today it supports "direct talks" between the two Korean nations to diffuse the missile crisis. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is ready for direct talks even as North and South Korean officials continued to reach out to each other over the next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Russia, a long-time of ally of Kim's regime, has consistently opposed US sanctions on North Korea even as Trump requested the Putin-led government to stop oil imports to the country. Last month, two senior European security experts had said Russian tankers supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, Reuters had reported. Russia's foreign ministry and the Russian customs service both refused to comment on the oil supply to North Korea. The US State Department, in a statement, called on Russia and other UN members to "strictly implement" sanctions on North Korea and to work "more closely together to shut down UN-prohibited activities, including ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum and the transport of coal from North Korea." Meanwhile, North Korea is also planning to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in addition to the athletes and performance group. Media reports said South Korea is seeking to form a united women's ice hockey team for the Winter Olympics, although it hasn't been confirmed.

Ready to support direct talks between North and South Korea on missile crisis: Russia

The White House on Saturday denied and corrected a quote attributed to President Donald Trump that suggested he had a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

&quot;I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-Un,&quot; Trump was quoted as telling The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Thursday.&nbsp;

But Press Secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that Trump said &quot;I&#39;d,&quot; not &quot;I&quot; as the newspaper reported.

Both The Wall Street Journal and the White House posted audio recordings of Trump&#39;s remarks on Twitter. These, while not completely clear, appeared to support Sanders&#39; account.

Sanders had earlier tweeted a written message disputing the newspaper&#39;s article.

&quot;President Trump said, I&#39;D probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. I&#39;D -- I&#39;D -- I&#39;D. NOT I!&quot; the message read, with &quot;I&#39;D&quot; in red ink, under a red banner reading &quot;FAKE NEWS.&quot;

Mockingly mimicking the newspaper&#39;s front page, it then reads &quot;THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- FAKE NEWS IS AT IT AGAIN! -- FALSELY QUOTING PRESIDENT TRUMP.&quot;

Washington and Pyongyang are in a standoff over North Korea&#39;s missile and nuclear programs, which could be used to target the United States and its allies.

Trump has repeatedly insulted the North Korean leader, describing him as mad and a &quot;rocket man.&quot;

Asked if by The Wall Street Journal if he had spoken to Kim, Trump said: &quot;I don&#39;t want to comment on it. I&#39;m not saying I have or haven&#39;t. I just don&#39;t want to comment.&quot;

Trump suggested his variable position on individuals was part of a broader strategy.

But it was not clear how his remarks fitted with his self-described policy of &quot;maximum pressure&quot; on Pyongyang.

In the coming week the United States and Canada are to host a meeting in Vancouver on the nuclear standoff with North Korea, bringing together friendly powers from around the world.

Washington and Pyongyang are in a standoff over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, which could be used to target the United States and its allies.

The White House on Saturday denied and corrected a quote attributed to President Donald Trump that suggested he had a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. "I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-Un," Trump was quoted as telling The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Thursday. But Press Secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that Trump said "I'd," not "I" as the newspaper reported. Both The Wall Street Journal and the White House posted audio recordings of Trump's remarks on Twitter. These, while not completely clear, appeared to support Sanders' account. Sanders had earlier tweeted a written message disputing the newspaper's article. "President Trump said, I'D probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. I'D -- I'D -- I'D. NOT I!" the message read, with "I'D" in red ink, under a red banner reading "FAKE NEWS." Mockingly mimicking the newspaper's front page, it then reads "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- FAKE NEWS IS AT IT AGAIN! -- FALSELY QUOTING PRESIDENT TRUMP." Washington and Pyongyang are in a standoff over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, which could be used to target the United States and its allies. Trump has repeatedly insulted the North Korean leader, describing him as mad and a "rocket man." Asked if by The Wall Street Journal if he had spoken to Kim, Trump said: "I don't want to comment on it. I'm not saying I have or haven't. I just don't want to comment." Trump suggested his variable position on individuals was part of a broader strategy. But it was not clear how his remarks fitted with his self-described policy of "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang. In the coming week the United States and Canada are to host a meeting in Vancouver on the nuclear standoff with North Korea, bringing together friendly powers from around the world.

White House pushes back over Trump North Korea quote

South Korea is seeking to form a united women&#39;s ice hockey team with North Korea to participate in next month&#39;s Winter Olympics being hosted by the South, a senior Seoul official told Yonhap news agency on Friday.

The comments came in an interview after Pyongyang said it agreed during inter-Korean talks this week to send a large delegation, including a cheering squad, to the games in Pyeongchang in South Korea.

Roh Tae-kang, South Korea&#39;s second vice minister for culture, sports and tourism, who took part in Tuesday&#39;s talks, said the South made the proposal for the combined team to the North.

The comments came in an interview after Pyongyang said it agreed during inter-Korean talks this week to send a large delegation

South Korea is seeking to form a united women's ice hockey team with North Korea to participate in next month's Winter Olympics being hosted by the South, a senior Seoul official told Yonhap news agency on Friday. The comments came in an interview after Pyongyang said it agreed during inter-Korean talks this week to send a large delegation, including a cheering squad, to the games in Pyeongchang in South Korea. Roh Tae-kang, South Korea's second vice minister for culture, sports and tourism, who took part in Tuesday's talks, said the South made the proposal for the combined team to the North.

South Korea eyes combined women's ice hockey team with North for winter Olympics

South Korea&#39;s justice minister said on Thursday the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading, throwing the virtual coin market into turmoil as the nation&#39;s police and tax authorities raided local exchanges on alleged tax evasion.

The clampdown in South Korea, a crucial source of global demand for cryptocurrency, came as policymaker around the world struggled to regulate an asset whose value has skyrocketed over the last year.

&quot;There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges,&quot; said Park Sang-ki at a press conference, according to the ministry&#39;s press office.

A press official said the proposed ban on cryptocurrency trading was announced after &quot;enough discussion&quot; with other government agencies including the nation&#39;s finance ministry and financial regulators.

The nation&#39;s largest cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinone and Bithumb were raided by police and tax agencies this week for alleged tax evasion. The raids follow moves by the finance ministry to identify ways to tax the market that has become as big as the nation&#39;s small-cap Kosdaq index in terms of daily trading volume.

Park Nok-sun, a cryptocurrency analyst at NH Investment &amp; Securities, said the herd behaviour in South Korea&#39;s virtual coin market has stoked concerns.

Indeed, Bitcoin&#39;s 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked huge demand for cryptocurency in South Korea, drawing college students to housewives and sparking worries of a gambling addiction.

&quot;Virtual coins trade at a hefty premium in South Korea, and that is herd behaviour showing how strong demand is here,&quot; Park said. &quot;Some officials are pushing for stronger and stronger regulations because they only see more (investors) jumping in, not out.&quot;

Bitcoin sank on Monday after website CoinMarketCap removed prices from South Korean exchanges, because coins were trading at a premium of about 30 percent in Asia&#39;s fourth largest economy. That created confusion and triggered a broad selloff among investors.

According to Coilhils.com, the price of Bitcoin dropped more than 4 percent to 20.3 million won ($18,968.42) after the minister&#39;s comments from early Thursday. The local price still trades at over a 30 percent premium compared to other countries. Bitcoin was down more than 10 percent on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp at $13,350, after earlier dropping as low as $13,120, its weakest since Jan. 2.

An official at Coinone said that a few officials from the National Tax Service raided the company&#39;s office this week.

&quot;Local police also have been investigating our company since last year, they think what we do is gambling,&quot; the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said and added that Coinone was cooperating with the investigation.

Bithumb, the second largest virtual currency operator in South Korea, was also raided by the tax authorities on Wednesday.

&quot;We were asked by the tax officials to disclose paperwork and things yesterday,&quot; an official at Bithumb said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

South Korean financial authorities had previously said they are inspecting six local banks that offer virtual currency accounts to institutions, amid concerns the increasing use of such assets could lead to a surge in crime.

The clampdown in South Korea, a crucial source of global demand for cryptocurrency, came as policymaker around the world struggled to regulate an asset whose value has skyrocketed over the last year.

South Korea's justice minister said on Thursday the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading, throwing the virtual coin market into turmoil as the nation's police and tax authorities raided local exchanges on alleged tax evasion. The clampdown in South Korea, a crucial source of global demand for cryptocurrency, came as policymaker around the world struggled to regulate an asset whose value has skyrocketed over the last year. "There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges," said Park Sang-ki at a press conference, according to the ministry's press office. A press official said the proposed ban on cryptocurrency trading was announced after "enough discussion" with other government agencies including the nation's finance ministry and financial regulators. The nation's largest cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinone and Bithumb were raided by police and tax agencies this week for alleged tax evasion. The raids follow moves by the finance ministry to identify ways to tax the market that has become as big as the nation's small-cap Kosdaq index in terms of daily trading volume. Park Nok-sun, a cryptocurrency analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said the herd behaviour in South Korea's virtual coin market has stoked concerns. Indeed, Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked huge demand for cryptocurency in South Korea, drawing college students to housewives and sparking worries of a gambling addiction. "Virtual coins trade at a hefty premium in South Korea, and that is herd behaviour showing how strong demand is here," Park said. "Some officials are pushing for stronger and stronger regulations because they only see more (investors) jumping in, not out." Bitcoin sank on Monday after website CoinMarketCap removed prices from South Korean exchanges, because coins were trading at a premium of about 30 percent in Asia's fourth largest economy. That created confusion and triggered a broad selloff among investors. According to Coilhils.com, the price of Bitcoin dropped more than 4 percent to 20.3 million won ($18,968.42) after the minister's comments from early Thursday. The local price still trades at over a 30 percent premium compared to other countries. Bitcoin was down more than 10 percent on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp at $13,350, after earlier dropping as low as $13,120, its weakest since Jan. 2. An official at Coinone said that a few officials from the National Tax Service raided the company's office this week. "Local police also have been investigating our company since last year, they think what we do is gambling," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said and added that Coinone was cooperating with the investigation. Bithumb, the second largest virtual currency operator in South Korea, was also raided by the tax authorities on Wednesday. "We were asked by the tax officials to disclose paperwork and things yesterday," an official at Bithumb said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. South Korean financial authorities had previously said they are inspecting six local banks that offer virtual currency accounts to institutions, amid concerns the increasing use of such assets could lead to a surge in crime.

South Korea prepares to ban cryptocurrency trading, exchanges raided

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after the first intra-Korean talks in over two years that the United States was willing to speak to North Korea &quot;under the right circumstances,&quot; although it was far from clear whether this would pay dividends.

South Korea said Trump had also said in a phone call with its President Moon Jae-in that there would be no military action while North-South talks were going on and that a Wall Street Journal article saying he was contemplating a military strike against North Korea was &quot;completely wrong.&quot;

&quot;Who knows where it leads?&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House after his call with Moon to discuss Tuesday&#39;s North-South talks, the first since 2015.

He said Moon told him the talks went well, and added: &quot;Hopefully it will lead to success for the world, not just for our country, but for the world. And we&#39;ll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens.&quot;

At a later news conference with the visiting Norwegian prime minister, Trump said the United States had problems with North Korea, but &quot;a lot of good talks are going on right now.&quot;

&quot;I see a lot of good energy. I like it very much ... So, hopefully, a lot of good things are going to work out.&quot;

&quot;I think that we will have peace through strength,&quot; he said, a reference to his policy of maintaining a powerful U.S. military.

South Korea&#39;s Presidential Blue House said both men had said the dialogue &quot;could naturally lead to talks between the United States and North Korea for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.&quot;

At Tuesday&#39;s intra-Korea talks, North Korea said it would attend the Olympics, which South Korea will host next month, while both sides agreed to resolve problems between them through dialogue and to revive military consultations to avoid accidental conflict.

However, Pyongyang said it would not discuss its nuclear weapons because they were aimed only at the United States and not its &quot;brethren&quot; in South Korea, or Russia or China, showing that a diplomatic breakthrough to the crisis remained far off.

While Washington has welcomed the talks as a first step towards solving the crisis over North Korea&#39;s programme to develop nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States, it has reiterated that any talks involving the United States must be aimed at North Korea&#39;s denuclearisation.

The White House said Trump told Moon the United States was willing to talk to North Korea &quot;at the appropriate time and under the right circumstances.&quot;

Trump, who has swung between hurling insults and threats at North Korea to expressing a willingness to talk, said on Saturday he would be willing to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though not without pre-conditions.

An unsourced article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said U.S. officials were debating whether it was possible to mount a limited military strike against North Korea without igniting an all-out war.

The Trump administration has said it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that all options are on the table, including military ones.

U.S. officials say Trump has been considering a number of military options, including a preemptive strike on a missile or nuclear facility, but officials and analysts have warned of the risks of triggering a catastrophic wider conflict.

Moon credits Trump for talks&nbsp;

Earlier on Tuesday, Moon made a point of crediting Trump for the Korean talks and also said he himself was open to meeting with Kim at any time if conditions were right and &quot;certain achievements are guaranteed&quot;.

&quot;The purpose of it shouldn&rsquo;t be talks for the sake of talks,&quot; he told a news conference, while warning that Pyongyang would face stronger sanctions if &quot;provocations&quot; continued.

North Korea ramped up missile launches last year and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, prompting a U.S.-led campaign to impose some of the strongest international sanctions yet, which Pyongyang dubbed an &quot;act of war&quot;.

Trump and Kim have exchanged threats and insults over the past year, raising fears of war. South Korea and the United States are technically still at war with the North after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

Washington and Seoul opened the way for the talks last week when they announced the postponement of joint military exercises that Pyongyang has denounced as a rehearsal for invasion.

Washington had raised concerns that a New Year overture from Kim that led to the talks could be aimed at driving a wedge between the allies, but Moon said he and Washington did not differ over how to respond to North Korean threats.

&quot;This initial round of talks is for the improvement of relations between North and South Korea. Our task ... is to draw North Korea to talks aimed at the denuclearisation of the North,&quot; Moon said. &quot;(It&#39;s) our basic stance that will never be given up.&quot;

The United Nations Security Council said following a briefing on the talks that it hopes &quot;that such interactions will lead towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.&quot;

Olof Skoog, Swedish ambassador to the U.N., said his nation had called for the briefing because it was important for the Security Council to remain active and united in its efforts to resolve the Korean conflict.

On an agreement on continued military-to-military talks and the reopened inter-Korean military hotline, Skoog said: &quot;We have consistently underlined the importance of these channels of communication to avoid misunderstanding and to reduce tensions.&quot;

North Korea&#39;s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said all problems would be resolved through the efforts of the Korean people alone.

&quot;If the North and South abandon external forces and cooperate together, we will be able to fully solve all problems to match our people&#39;s needs and our joint prosperity,&quot; it said.

In spite of the hopeful words about the potential for future talks, the U.S. intelligence assessment of North Korea&rsquo;s weapons programs has not altered, officials say.

U.S. officials familiar with the classified analysis say the consensus is that Kim remains convinced that the United States is determined to overthrow him and that only a nuclear arsenal that threatens America can deter that.

One official said the North-South talks were likely to follow the pattern of past diplomatic efforts, in which North Korea has benefited from aid without making concessions.

Lee Woo-young, a professor at Seoul&#39;s University of North Korean Studies, said it was wise of Moon to praise Trump.

&quot;By doing that, he can help the U.S. build logic for moving toward negotiations,&quot; he said.

The United States and Canada are due to host a conference of about 20 foreign ministers next week in Vancouver to discuss North Korea, without the participation of China, Pyongyang&#39;s sole major ally and biggest trade partner.

The State Department said the talks, which will involve countries that supported South Korea in the Korean War, would look at ways both to increase the U.S.-led pressure campaign on North Korea and take diplomatic efforts forward.

&quot;The pressure campaign is intended to lead to credible negotiations on denuclearisation,&quot; a spokesman said.

China said it was opposed to the meeting as it would not help reduce tensions

South Korea's Presidential Blue House said both men had said the dialogue "could naturally lead to talks between the United States and North Korea for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics."

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after the first intra-Korean talks in over two years that the United States was willing to speak to North Korea "under the right circumstances," although it was far from clear whether this would pay dividends. South Korea said Trump had also said in a phone call with its President Moon Jae-in that there would be no military action while North-South talks were going on and that a Wall Street Journal article saying he was contemplating a military strike against North Korea was "completely wrong." "Who knows where it leads?" Trump told reporters at the White House after his call with Moon to discuss Tuesday's North-South talks, the first since 2015. He said Moon told him the talks went well, and added: "Hopefully it will lead to success for the world, not just for our country, but for the world. And we'll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens." At a later news conference with the visiting Norwegian prime minister, Trump said the United States had problems with North Korea, but "a lot of good talks are going on right now." "I see a lot of good energy. I like it very much ... So, hopefully, a lot of good things are going to work out." "I think that we will have peace through strength," he said, a reference to his policy of maintaining a powerful U.S. military. South Korea's Presidential Blue House said both men had said the dialogue "could naturally lead to talks between the United States and North Korea for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics." At Tuesday's intra-Korea talks, North Korea said it would attend the Olympics, which South Korea will host next month, while both sides agreed to resolve problems between them through dialogue and to revive military consultations to avoid accidental conflict. However, Pyongyang said it would not discuss its nuclear weapons because they were aimed only at the United States and not its "brethren" in South Korea, or Russia or China, showing that a diplomatic breakthrough to the crisis remained far off. While Washington has welcomed the talks as a first step towards solving the crisis over North Korea's programme to develop nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States, it has reiterated that any talks involving the United States must be aimed at North Korea's denuclearisation. The White House said Trump told Moon the United States was willing to talk to North Korea "at the appropriate time and under the right circumstances." Trump, who has swung between hurling insults and threats at North Korea to expressing a willingness to talk, said on Saturday he would be willing to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though not without pre-conditions. An unsourced article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said U.S. officials were debating whether it was possible to mount a limited military strike against North Korea without igniting an all-out war. The Trump administration has said it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that all options are on the table, including military ones. U.S. officials say Trump has been considering a number of military options, including a preemptive strike on a missile or nuclear facility, but officials and analysts have warned of the risks of triggering a catastrophic wider conflict. Moon credits Trump for talks Earlier on Tuesday, Moon made a point of crediting Trump for the Korean talks and also said he himself was open to meeting with Kim at any time if conditions were right and "certain achievements are guaranteed". "The purpose of it shouldn’t be talks for the sake of talks," he told a news conference, while warning that Pyongyang would face stronger sanctions if "provocations" continued. North Korea ramped up missile launches last year and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, prompting a U.S.-led campaign to impose some of the strongest international sanctions yet, which Pyongyang dubbed an "act of war". Trump and Kim have exchanged threats and insults over the past year, raising fears of war. South Korea and the United States are technically still at war with the North after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Washington and Seoul opened the way for the talks last week when they announced the postponement of joint military exercises that Pyongyang has denounced as a rehearsal for invasion. Washington had raised concerns that a New Year overture from Kim that led to the talks could be aimed at driving a wedge between the allies, but Moon said he and Washington did not differ over how to respond to North Korean threats. "This initial round of talks is for the improvement of relations between North and South Korea. Our task ... is to draw North Korea to talks aimed at the denuclearisation of the North," Moon said. "(It's) our basic stance that will never be given up." The United Nations Security Council said following a briefing on the talks that it hopes "that such interactions will lead towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula." Olof Skoog, Swedish ambassador to the U.N., said his nation had called for the briefing because it was important for the Security Council to remain active and united in its efforts to resolve the Korean conflict. On an agreement on continued military-to-military talks and the reopened inter-Korean military hotline, Skoog said: "We have consistently underlined the importance of these channels of communication to avoid misunderstanding and to reduce tensions." North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said all problems would be resolved through the efforts of the Korean people alone. "If the North and South abandon external forces and cooperate together, we will be able to fully solve all problems to match our people's needs and our joint prosperity," it said. In spite of the hopeful words about the potential for future talks, the U.S. intelligence assessment of North Korea’s weapons programs has not altered, officials say. U.S. officials familiar with the classified analysis say the consensus is that Kim remains convinced that the United States is determined to overthrow him and that only a nuclear arsenal that threatens America can deter that. One official said the North-South talks were likely to follow the pattern of past diplomatic efforts, in which North Korea has benefited from aid without making concessions. Lee Woo-young, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said it was wise of Moon to praise Trump. "By doing that, he can help the U.S. build logic for moving toward negotiations," he said. The United States and Canada are due to host a conference of about 20 foreign ministers next week in Vancouver to discuss North Korea, without the participation of China, Pyongyang's sole major ally and biggest trade partner. The State Department said the talks, which will involve countries that supported South Korea in the Korean War, would look at ways both to increase the U.S.-led pressure campaign on North Korea and take diplomatic efforts forward. "The pressure campaign is intended to lead to credible negotiations on denuclearisation," a spokesman said. China said it was opposed to the meeting as it would not help reduce tensions

Trump, on possibility of North Korea talks, says: 'Who knows where it leads?'

south-korea

South Korea, News on South Korea, stories on South Korea, articles on South Korea, South Korea stories at Wion, South Korea news, South Korea latest news

south korea