As announced by the Nova agency, the South Korean Defense could make a request to the United States to reschedule the calendar of joint military exercises for the first months of next year, postponing the maneuvers that would coincide with the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games . This was reported today by a South Korean government source quoted by the newspaper "Korea Herald". South Korea and the United States carry out their annual joint “Key Resolve” maneuvers in March, which the North Core considers general evidence of an invasion. “The Armed Forces - explained the source - are considering whether to launch a consultation with the US forces so that the Key Resolve exercises do not overlap the Olympics. Consultations could be launched by the end of the year ”.
In recent days the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, mentioned the Winter Olympics, which will be held from 9 to 25 February and from 9 to 18 March in PyeongChang. The sporting event, the president said, could provide a chance for Pyongyang to emerge from its international isolation. "If North Korea takes part (in the Olympics), I believe the Pyeongchang Winter Games will become more than just an Olympic event, and provide an additional opportunity to contribute to peace between the Koreas and the entire North Asian region." Oriental".
The Pyeongchang Olympics will be the first of three Olympic events hosted by Asian countries: Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Following the approval of the UN resolution for the Olympic truce, in early November , the South Korean Unification Ministry has again urged Pyongyang's participation in the Games. Olympics organizers have downplayed concerns over severe tensions in the region over North Korea's ballistics and nuclear programs in recent weeks. Lee hee-beom, president of the organizing committee of the Games, reiterated that the event, scheduled from 9 to 25 February next, will not be postponed or modified to the calendar. "There is no plan B," Lee said yesterday in Athens at the traditional Olympic flame lighting ceremony. "We know that the world is watching the current geopolitical situation on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said. "We continue to work closely with the authorities and other actors involved to ensure safe games for all who will take part."
The Seoul Foreign Ministry announced last month that North Korea has applied to the International Paralympic Committee (ICC) for the participation of its athletes in next year's Winter Games in South Korea. The ministry has pointed out that the application was submitted by Pyongyang last May. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha reiterated during a parliamentary hearing that Seoul hopes for the Northern Neighbor's participation in the sporting event, regardless of the crisis triggered in the Peninsula by North Korea's ballistic and nuclear tests.
A CPI official, however, told the South Korean news agency "Yonhap" that Pyongyang's participation in the Winter Paralympics remains uncertain: since last May, in fact, the regime has not activated in any way to visit the event site, PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul. According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Pyongyang's request reached the Paralympic Committee via email on 8 May. Pyongyang's participation in the event is also hampered by the shortage of North Korean Paralympic athletes active in international competitions, necessary to gain admission to the four-year event. North Korean athletes will therefore have to rely on any wild cards granted by the CPI.