Concerns are mounting that the 2018 Olympics in South Korea could be celebrated in the shadow of fear as North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and crank up rhetoric in the face of the glowing global rift.
Kim Ok Chun opened a restaurant 22 years ago in PyeongChang. As the community prepares to welcome athletes from across the globe in February 2018, she says her hope is that fear doesn’t dissuade spectators.
“Kim Jung Un wants to be noticed by the world,” she told CTV News. “And we will be noticed: with no problems and cooperation.”
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympics were built on a foundation of hope. President Moon Jae-In, who was elected in May, suggested in June that North Korea could co-host some of the Olympic events.
Moon has also said that North Korean athletes would be welcome to participate in the games, and that the door would remain open for them to join up to the last minute.
But a growing rift between the two nations and further nuclear testing on North Korea’s part have thrown cold water on that warm invitation.
South Korea has endorsed the idea of tough new sanctions on North Korea that would cut off oil exports – an idea that the U.S. has reportedly floated in a draft UN Security Council resolution.
On Thursday, dozens were injured in the rural town of Seongju in a protest with police over the deployment of four new launchers in the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence System, or THAAD.
The controversial missile defense system has divided some in the country, who see it as an unnecessary provocation to North Korea. The government says it is a necessary step in defending South Korea from any possible threat.
Thousands of police officers wearing riot gear attended the protest of about 400 people. In all, 32 people and six police officers were injured in the clash, but none seriously, according to local reports.
Meanwhile, Moon met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Moon and Abe both repeated their push for countries to cut off North Korea’s oil supply.
But Putin, whose country is an economic partner with North Korea, dismissed those calls and instead said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is populated by “many reasonable people” who are "willing to resolve the situation."
For his part, Trump said Thursday that “hopefully” the U.S. won’t have to use its own arsenal of weapons against North Korea.
“If we do use it on North Korea, it will be a very sad day for North Korea,” Trump said.
With a report from CTV’s Genevieve Beauchemin in South Korea and the Associated Press
