[noemon]

North Korea and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single unified Korea flag at the Winter Olympics, according to South Korean officials.

180117212122-korean-unification-flag-1-exlarge-169.jpg (57.77 KiB) Viewed 1380 times

Seoul's Unification Ministry says the Koreas reached the agreement during talks Wednesday at the border village of Panmunjom.

It says athletes from the two Koreas will march together under a "unification flag" depicting their peninsula during the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang.

The measures require approval by the International Olympic Committee, which will be consulted over the weekend.

The two countries have also agreed to form a shared women's ice hockey team in a historic moment for the peninsula. This will be the first time ever that a united team from the two Koreas has competed in the Olympics.

This follows the announcement, made earlier today, that North Korea will be sending a 230-person cheering squad to next month's Games as part of the country's 550-strong delegation, which will start arriving in South Korea on 25 January.

North and South Korea opened talks over the Winter Olympics last week - the first time in two years the two nations have been in dialogue.

This has offered respite from rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, which it is pursuing in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

Despite an apparent thaw in relations between the two Koreas, Japan has urged caution over the North’s “charm offensive”.

“It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said. “The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.”

The initial proposals to form a joint ice hockey team were also met with apprehension, with concerns being raised raised that South Korean players could lose their place to competitors from the north.

Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said on Wednesday that the government is aware of public concerns that adding North Korean players could displace South Koreans who have made the team.

Before Wednesday's announcement, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during a visit to a training centre, told players: “I don’t know if it will happen, but a joint team will be a good opportunity for ice hockey to shed its sorrow as a less-preferred sport as many Koreans will take interest."

Independent

[Crantag]

Given the amount of chaos around Olympic events, couple with the hustle of Seoul on a regular day, this would seem a potential opportunity for NK to gain some intelligence. At the same time, SK probably may as well let any NK agents wandering around go out and see the sites and get subdued by the allures of Seoul itself.

I just am holding out hope for no high profile poisonings or such.

[Atlantis]

Perhaps North and South Korea end up unifying just to spite Trump.

[ness31]

You’re a cynical lot.

I think this news was wonderful. Its a nice change from all the war talk that’s been floating around

[Godstud]

Great news. I think this is a step in the right direction.

[Zagadka]

I agree, it is wonderful news. And I in no way saw it coming, though I know the South is more up for unification.

[Atlantis]

I agree, it is wonderful news. And I in no way saw it coming, though I know the South is more up for unification.

The South fears reunification like the devil fears the cross because the cost of reunification would cripple the country. But the South doesn't want Trump to trigger an escalation because millions of South Koreans in and around Seoul are in easy artillery reach of the North.

[foxdemon]

The South fears reunification like the devil fears the cross because the cost of reunification would cripple the country. But the South doesn't want Trump to trigger an escalation because millions of South Koreans in and around Seoul are in easy artillery reach of the North.

I thought you are German. Of all people the Germans should be able to understand why reunification might be important to Koreans. I seriously doubt fears of cost would be holding S Koreans back. Rather it is that N Korean remains under the control of Communist fanatics. How to reconcile the nation under those circumstances? Germany only managed after the Soviets collapsed. Might it be reasonable to expect the same for Korea?

[Godstud]

South Korea has one of the most powerful economies in the world. Assuming they might collapse because of reunification, is silly.

[Atlantis]

I thought you are German. Of all people the Germans should be able to understand why reunification might be important to Koreans.

It's exactly because I'm German that I know that my South Korean friends are totally justified in fearing the cost or reunification.

Germany only managed after the Soviets collapsed.

Cause and effect, my friend, cause and effect. Never mix them up. The Soviet Union collapsed after the Berlin wall came down. And yes, I always opposed German reunification and feel vindicated more every passing day.

South Korea has one of the most powerful economies in the world. Assuming they might collapse because of reunification, is silly.

It's not that simple. Germany was known as the "sick man of Europe" for the decade following reunification, even though 65 million of very prosperous West Germans only had to bail out 16 million East Germans, who where among the most advanced and prosperous in the whole Soviet sphere of influence.

Compare to that, 50 million South Koreans would have to finance the transition of 25 millions North Koreans from a very backward state to an even more competitive environment. All the government contacts I had during my business trips to Seoul confirmed that, while publicly advocating reunification, most South Koreans dread it in private.

I lived in the Far East and know that Koreans have always taken a strong interest in Germany before and after reunification.

[skinster]

Perhaps North and South Korea end up unifying just to spite Trump.

I think they've wanted to unify but can't because of what uncle sam imposed on the south. They were all one people until that border was created between the two sides. There are a lot of activists in favour of unification with the north, from the south, I saw some of them speak at a conference I was at in DC.

This is good news.

An interview on this topic.

[Atlantis]

I think they've wanted to unify but can't because of what uncle sam imposed on the south.

The thing is NK's Kim dynasty could not survive reunification. It's not just the dictator and his family, but the entire leading elite of the regime that would be at risk. Where are they going to go in exile? Russia, China? I don't believe that is how they envision their future. And why would China or Russia want that? To keep NK as a thorn in the flesh of the West is much more useful than see the West strengthened by a unified Korea.

The situation is very different from East Germany. The East German regime was history the moment Gorbachev signaled to them that he wouldn't mobilize troops to defend the Berlin wall. The East German regime was a Moscow puppet that could not have mustered the type of brutal repression used on Tiananmen Square. The Kim regime has no qualms about using whatever repression is needed to maintain the regime. They don't need Moscow or Beijing for that. Neither the PRC nor NK would survive without the determination to use total repression. Asians never integrated European humanism.

Reform isn't an option for the regime either because it invariably leads onto a slippery slop that ends with the dictator on the gallows.

[foxdemon]

@Atlantis So stingy! Sure, it will be incredibly expensive to bring the north up to the standards of the south. But the Koreans are a hard working and resourceful people. It will be money soundly invested. OK, maybe it will take a decade or two before one sees the return. But if one accepts the idea of get rich slow, then it is a sound investment.

I agree that the real obstacle is Beijing and Moscow. @skinster overrates American power. And what is to be done with N Korea’s tin pot political elite? Without their neo commie political structure, what good are they? The situation in Korea is a terrible tragedy. I don’t think American might is the solution. Maybe the time just isn’t right yet.

[commentoff.iar]

Very well! If they are not climbed from outside, they quickly reconcile. And South Korea will hold an excellent Olympiad.
And after the Olympiad come to us at the World Cup. We will be happy)

Welcome! ))

[Atlantis]

@foxdemon, it's got nothing to do with being stingy. I just explain why South Koreans aren't as enthusiastic about the prospect of unification as outsider might assume. And, as German reunification has shown, the money isn't the biggest problem. Integrating Germans that have been socialized under a communist dictatorship is harder than integrating Syrian refugees. At least the latter don't have any problems with the market economy. And the political price of having my country hitchhiked by far-right fanatics from the East is just too high.