Seoul’s presidential Blue House rejected criticism on Tuesday that next month’s Winter Games had been hijacked by North Korea, saying the event will help defuse tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.
Some opposition politicians and conservatives in South Korea have criticized North Korea’s participation in the Games to be held in the South Korean alpine resort town of Pyeongchang, dubbing them the “Pyongyang Olympics”.
“Just one month ago, acute tensions gripped the Korean peninsula, but the administration’s efforts to tackle the crisis through dialogue has led to North Korea’s participation in the Olympics,” Blue House spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a news conference.
“We’re confident that the Olympics will be a stepping stone to bring peace to the Korean peninsula, to Northeast Asia and the world.”
After a months-long standoff over the North’s nuclear and missile tests, the two Koreas agreed during their first formal talks in nearly two years that the South will help arrange the North to join in the Games.
Some specific plans, however, including fielding a joint women’s ice hockey team and marching under a united flag, have proven controversial, with conservatives and younger South Koreans upset that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is stealing the spotlight.
The administration of South Korea’s liberal president, Moon Jae-in, is under pressure over its offer to send athletes to a North Korean ski resort for joint training. Experts say the move risks giving Kim’s regime legitimacy and some much needed cash.
Seoul officials are on a three-day trip to the North starting Tuesday to inspect the resort’s facilities and the newly built Kalma Airport nearby that may be used to fly in the South Korean skiers, who are not expected to attend the Games.
Moon’s approval rating has fallen to a four-month low at 66 percent, a poll showed on Monday, due to a backlash over the decision regarding the combined hockey team.
Small but vocal groups of demonstrators staged a protest at Seoul’s central train station on Monday where a North Korean delegation had arrived, burning a picture of Kim. One sign at the protest read: “We’re opposed to Kim Jong Un’s Pyongyang Olympics!”.
