Korean leader Kim Jong-ungetty images
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "has gone ahead with a military parade the day before the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony in South Korea, in an act that some will see as provocative," according to Kristy Needham of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. However, the regime "did not broadcast live images of the event, South Korean media reported." Yonhap said that about 13,000 troops participated while 50,000 spectators watched. Four Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of reaching the U.S. "and which sparked the ire" of the int'l community when they were tested last year, "were among the hardware paraded" past Kim Jong-un, his wife and sister Kim Yo-jong. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that he hopes the Winter Olympics "is not just a photo opportunity, but that it will create the conditions for serious dialogue to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis." He said that talks between North Korea and the U.S. were "absolutely necessary" (SMH, 2/9).
'TIMELY OPPORTUNITY': REUTERS' Michelle Nichols reported South Korea asked the UN on Wednesday for an "exemption to allow a sanctioned North Korean official to attend the opening ceremony" on Friday with Kim Yo-jong. Pyongyang told Seoul that National Sports Guidance Committee Chair Choe Hwi "would travel to Pyeongchang as part of its delegation led by Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state." South Korea’s mission to the UN wrote in the request that the visit "will serve as a timely opportunity to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula and beyond by promoting an environment conducive to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution concerning the situation on the Peninsula" (REUTERS, 2/7).
