NORTH and South Korea had not spoken to one another in almost two years. In fact, southern officials had been attempting to use the hotline between the two governments regularly, but the North had refused to pick up. In the end, however, it took just 11 hours of face-to-face discussion, on January 9th, for the two sides to agree that the North would participate in the winter Olympics next month, which South Korea is hosting in Pyeongchang, a district just 50 miles from the heavily fortified border between the two.
The North agreed to send athletes, officials, reporters and a cheerleading squad. The pair even discussed the idea of their teams parading together at the opening ceremony. They resolved to reopen a second hotline on the west coast to discuss military matters, and will meet again for talks, possibly to discuss reducing tensions along the border. Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, even held out the prospect of a summit with Kim Jong Un, the dictator who runs North...Continue reading
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