North Korea is expected to hold an “intimidating” military parade on February 8, a day before the opening of the PyeongChang Olympic Games, Seoul’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Friday.
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South Korea is set to resume joint military exercises with the USA involving tens of thousands of troops from both sides after the Winter Olympics, an official said on Friday.
The Trump administration has said all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, and officials say the President and his advisers have discussed the possibility of a limited strike.
South Korea has sent a group of officials to North Korea to inspect preparations for a joint cultural event at the North’s scenic Diamond Mountain and a practice session for the countries’ non-Olympic skiers at the North’s Masik ski resort the Koreas plan to hold before the start of the Olympics.
A former director of the CIA’s Korea division who just returned from Seoul says officials there have “very strong concerns” about the United States attacking North Korea.
It added that joint military drills with “outside forces” were unhelpful when better relations between North and South Korea were being sought.
The breakthrough over the Olympics came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year’s address that he would be open to it.
The message also endorsed defusing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and promoting increased cooperation and exchange programs.
A delegation of sports officials and ice hockey players from the Democratic People ” s Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in South Korea today to check the facilities for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
Kim Jong Un set the stage for the sports diplomacy in his New Year’s address, but he simultaneously announced that his country had completed its nuclear force, including missiles capable of reaching the USA mainland.
“Now is the best time, as the USA opens its door for talks”, the unidentified official was quoted as saying.
The North Korean skaters won the bronze in pairs at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Japan. No U.S. policy is going to be able to change that reality.
“We haven’t suspended, we’re de-conflicting during the period of the Olympics and exercises will continue immediately after the Olympics”, McKenzie said Thursday.
One of the 16 individuals sanctioned by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was an official from the Workers’ Party of Korea, North Korea’s ruling party.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un ramped up missile testing and nuclear tests during a bellicose war of words with President Trump.
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A report carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said: “If these traitors and psychopaths defaming the dignified Korean nation are allowed to go scot-free, the national reconciliation, unity and the building of a reunified powerful country will be delayed so much”.
