There are "thousands of South Korean national police saturating the Pyeongchang area," but pundits are wondering whether the Winter Games "still pose a security risk," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. Tensions on the Korean peninsula "began to ease on New Year's Day" when North Korea leader Kim Jong Un "made a public overture that was well-received by South Korean President Moon Jae-in." Then, last-minute negotiations "led to [a] deal by which North Korea will compete in several sports and march with South Korea at the opening ceremony on Friday." The nations also "will field a joint women's hockey team." Yet the neighboring countries have a "history of violence around major sporting events." During the '02 World Cup, a naval clash between the nations "resulted in numerous deaths." But experts "do not foresee that degree of trouble during the upcoming Games," and "even a missile test by North Korea seems less likely than it did a month ago" (L.A. TIMES, 2/7).
EYE IN THE SKY: YAHOO SPORTS' Ryan Young reported among "all of the security preparations, officials are also preparing to thwart any potential drone attacks." While they have "signal-jamming 'drone guns' and even are prepared to fly up via helicopter and shoot down drones in extreme situations, the main way to thwart any unwanted drone will be to, naturally, use a drone themselves." The drone-catching drone "simply has to catch up to the rogue drone and deploy a net, which then renders the drone ineffective" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/6).
UNDER THE WEATHER: In N.Y., Specia & McNeil Jr. note officials are "scrambling to contain an outbreak of the norovirus that has sickened dozens of security guards." Around 1,200 security staff members have been "kept in their rooms while they wait to be tested for the highly contagious virus." To "make up for the personnel shortage, South Korea has deployed 900 members of its military" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/7).
