As I expected Ivanka Trump continued to communicate the US’s position of maximum pressure on North Korea to President Moon:
Ivanka Trump, daughter of the U.S. President Donald Trump / Yonhap
Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, reiterated a maximum pressure campaign against North Korea, in a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Friday.
She said Washington and Seoul “reaffirmed commitment to a maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized,” ahead of a dinner hosted by Moon at Cheong Wa Dae.
“We continue to reaffirm our joint values and strategic cooperation as partners and allies,” she said.
Ivanka leads the U.S. delegation which arrived in Seoul earlier in the day, to attend the Games’ closing ceremony on Sunday. The delegation includes Senator James Risch, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Allison Hooker, a National Security Council (NSC) official specializing in Korean affairs. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the article also says she is not expected to meet with the North Korean delegation either. Outside of the North Korean delegation suddenly saying they are open to denuclearization and ending their ICBM program I don’t see why the US delegation should meet with them?
South Korean rapper CL responds to reporters’ questions during a press conference at the Main Press Center in PyeongChang, northeastern South Korea, on Feb. 21, 2018, about her plan to take the stage at the closing ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, scheduled for Feb. 25. (Yonhap)
I guess we will see what happens, but I don’t expect Ivanka Trump will stray from the White House’s current maximum pressure position in regards to North Korea if they do meet:
Kim Yong-chol
The chances of Washington-Pyongyang talks over the latter’s nuclear program seem to be growing, with high-level officials from the two countries coming to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Attention to any possible contact is high, especially after it belatedly became known the two sides had planned a meeting when U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong participated in the opening ceremony.
Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Unification said Thursday Kim Yong-chol, head of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s United Front Department, would visit the South from Sunday to Tuesday, along with seven other delegates including Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
They will attend the closing ceremony that will take place on Sunday. Cheong Wa Dae said the rest of their itinerary has not been confirmed, although it is expected they will have a separate meeting with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae.
The high-profile North Korean delegation’s visit was announced hours after the White House and Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, would make a four-day visit here from Friday to Monday.
She is scheduled to have talks with Moon over dinner at the presidential office on the first day of her visit. Ivanka Trump will also have a separate event with first lady Kim Jung-sook, as well as attending the closing ceremony.
As the periods of the two delegations’ stays overlap, expectations are growing over a possible meeting. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I am willing to bet the Moon administration intentionally created this scheduling overlap in an effort to try and get a meeting to happen.
Japanese speed skaters celebrate after defeating the defending champion Netherlands in the women’s team pursuit finals at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Gangneung, on South Korea’s east coast, on Feb. 21, 2018. (Yonhap)
You would think the Kim regime would at least send someone to the Winter Olympics that at least knows how to skate:
He came, he saw, he fell—twice. But what made North Korean athlete Jong Kwang Bom’s abysmal performance at the men’s short track speed skating 500m heat particularly memorable was his attempt to take down his Japanese rival by grabbing his blade.
The seventh and last of Tuesday’s heats featured athletes from South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and North Korea—oddly representative of the four main players involved in the current geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Jong, who at 16 was the youngest skater in the heat, fell flat on his chest within a few seconds of the start of the race. While lying on the ice, he extended his arm and grabbed the Japanese speed skater Keita Watanabe’s blade, in what was either a willful attempt to trip the athlete or to force a restart. [Newsweek]
You can read more at the link, but the North Korean was awarded a restart for his efforts and then proceeded to fall again and try to take out the American and Japanese skaters. Oddly this race is a great metaphor for North Korea; a country with little to no talent, instead of trying to compete on the world stage decides to use thug behavior to threaten to take everyone else down with them.
Byant Fletcher of the United States practices his jump for Nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10 km competition of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics during a training session at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 19, 2018. (Yonhap)
Ryu Hee-in, a senior official of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, visits a security control center of the PyeongChang Olympics Organizing Committee in the northeastern alpine city of PyeongChang in this photo provided by the ministry on Jan. 17, 2018.
The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is providing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and other assistance to help ensure security during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday.
The USFK’s UAVs have been mobilized for surveillance activities around all stadiums to prevent possible terrorist attacks and accidents during the Olympics and the Paralympics. The Olympics run through next Sunday, while the Paralympics will take place from March 9-18.
“The USFK is offering UAV support in close cooperation with South Korean and U.S. military authorities, as well as the Olympic organizing committee, the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, and the U.S. Department of State,” the JCS said.
“This clearly shows that the solid South Korea-U.S. alliance is shining more at the scenes of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” it added.
The UAVs are producing live video feeds, which the Olympic security control center uses to protect Olympic venues from any potential dangers.
The type of UAVs remains unknown. But the USFK is known to operate small ones, such as the RQ-11B Raven and the RQ-7B Shadow. [Yonhap]
Via a reader tip comes this BBC article that explains how many on South Korean social media are wondering what would have happened if American Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Chloe Kim was born in South Korea?:
The teenager’s name was the most searched on Naver, South Korea’s largest portal, as many swelled with pride at her performance. Kim’s parents are South Koreans who emigrated to the United States in 1982.
But some social media users in the country are keenly imagining alternative lives for the unstoppable 17-year-old Californian, asking could she have achieved gold if she’d been born in South Korea?
“If she grew up in South Korea, she would be stuck on the bus going to academies (hagwon) all day,” one Naver used commented, referring to the country’s culture of encouraging long hours of studying and suggesting she would not have had the opportunity to become an athlete.
“If you were born in my country, you would be doing extra study at this hour. Envy you, American,” another wrote. [BBC]
You can read more at the link, but if she was born in South Korea and her parents wanted her to pursue a sports career it likely would not have been in snowboarding because of the lack of facilities to train. She likely would have been a speed skater considering the emphasis put on the sport in South Korea.
Pak Il-chol of North Korea competes in the men’s 15km cross-country skiing event of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 16, 2018. He finished 107th among 116 contestants who completed the race. (Yonhap)
