North Korea to Hit High Note at Olympics

(ATR) A North Korean orchestra will perform in Seoul and Gangneung during the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The performances by the Samjiyeon Orchestra were confirmed in a release by the South Korean Unification Ministry. The orchestra will be comprised of 140 North Koreans.

"Practical issues such as performance venues, stage conditions, necessary equipments, installation of equipment, etc. for the performances of the North Korean art troupe should be solved by both parties," the statement read. "The South shall ensure the safety and convenience of the North Arts Troupe to the maximum extent possible."

North Korea said it would send officials to the South to inspect venues before the 2018 Games.

The second set of talks did not produce a definitive plan for how the North Korean delegation will travel to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Talks have been complicated by the need to enforce strict United Nations Security Council sanctions. It is expected that North Korea will travel by land to the Games, or fly from Pyongyang to Beijing before flying to South Korea.

Before the second round of Olympic talks began, reports from the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) suggested that officials from the North will travel by bus to South Korea. The report also chastised South Korean President Jae In Moon for giving some credit for the talks to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent 2017 trading verbal barbs through the media as North Korea continued the escalation of its nuclear program. Moon has had to balance appeasing the volatile Trump Administration, while pushing for talks with North Korea. Experts say that PyeongChang 2018 provided a "convenient" opening for talks, even as Moon emphasizes the importance of the security alliance.

"They should know that train and bus carrying our delegation to the Olympics are still in Pyongyang," the KCNA report said, as quoted by Yonhap. "The South Korean authorities had better ponder over what unfavorable results may be entailed by their impolite behavior."

Technical details of the North Korean Olympic delegation will be determined during four-party talks this weekend in Lausanne. The size of the delegation and the possibility for a joint women’s hockey team will be the two main items on the agenda. South Korean officials are lobbying the International Ice Hockey Federation, according to reports from Yonhap, to allow for an increase of the roster size of the women's ice hockey team to allow for North Korean participation. However, South Korean skaters would still be scratched from some games, so North Korean skaters could play, resulting in a potential complication.

So far only two North Korean figure skaters have qualified for the 2018 Games, but they missed a registration deadline with the International Skating Union. The ISU has said in a statement that if the IOC deems the pair eligible as wild cards to compete, they will be entered. Any other North Korean athlete participating in PyeongChang would do so upon full invitation from the IOC as a wild card.

Homepage photo: South Korean Unification Ministry

Written by Aaron Bauer

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