As part of the rapprochement with Seoul, hundreds of North Korean officials, athletes, artists, journalists and a 230-member cheering group will be attending the Olympics, and athletes from the two Koreas will march together under a single flag during the opening ceremony. Ri asked the UN Security Council in the letter to take up “the issue of welcoming the process of improved inter-Korean relations and discouraging the neighboring countries from disturbing the process.” The efforts at reconciliation follow a year of heightened animosities over North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, which Pyongyang says can now reach the US mainland. There has been escalating rhetoric between Kim and US President Donald Trump, including back-and-forth over their “nuclear button.”Some experts say North Korea may want to use improved ties with the South as a way to weaken US-led international sanctions. Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in sees the Olympics as an opportunity to resume meaningful contact with North Korea following the extended period of tension and a diplomatic stalemate over the North’s nuclear and missile programs. He said that whenever joint US-South Korean exercises take place — as the US has announced for immediately after the Olympics — peace and security on the peninsula are “gravely threatened and the inter-Korean mistrust and confrontation reached the top.”For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App

Source: Indian Express February 02, 2018 02:53 UTC