Both Koreas Look to Thaw Bitter Ties Amid Winter Olympics 2018

Kim Jong Un sprung a surprise when he expressed North Korea’s desire to participate in Winter Olympics in S Korea.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Chung Sung-jun/International Olympic Committee)

Signaling a welcome thaw in the midst of a brutal winter, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took the world by surprise when he expressed North Korea’s desire to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. This came close on the heels of the ‘Supreme Leader’ saying that he was “open for a dialogue with South Korea.”

After months of belligerence and nuclear threats, the 2018 Winter Olympics scheduled for 9 to 25 February 2018 present a welcome chance to bring a semblance of peace to the peninsula. South Korea responded to Kim’s overtures positively, by extending an invitation to North Korea to participate in the Olympics.

The fact that teams of both countries will march under the same flag in the Winter Olympics is a welcome precedent. Whether this “reunification” at the games also gets mirrored politically, however, is an open-ended question.

Dreams of Re-Unification

The conflict between the two Koreas has its origins in the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

In an effort to win back influence after its defeat in the 1895 Sino-Japanese War, China installed the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in 1919. It, however, remained a government that was recognised merely by China alone.

Things took a drastic turn after Japan’s defeat in World War II. Unable to cope with its losses, Japan withdrew its occupying forces from Korea leaving a political void. This was quickly filled up by the United States and the USSR, with both countries taking over the administration of Korea immediately. 

Using the 38th Parallel as the boundary, Korea was split into two halves – the North (controlled by the USSR) and the South (under the control of the United States).

In the background of the Cold War, Korea became a battleground in the fight of ideologies. Every effort to reunify the ‘communist’ North with the ‘capitalist’ South failed miserably. While the South conducted elections in 1948, the North saw Kim II-Sung come to power with the blessings of Josef Stalin.

Knocking on Heaven’s Door

The ideological battle eventually culminated into a military one with the Korean War. Fought between 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953, this battle saw North Korea drawing support from China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was aided by the US administration.

The United Nations also supported South Korea and dispatched a military force contributed by 21 countries. The war began with the alleged invasion of South Korea by North Korea after a series of skirmishes between the two sides along their 38th parallel border.

Three years of the brutal conflict eventually culminated into an armistice that came into effect. A Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) was created to separate the two Koreas. Since 1953, the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), comprising Swiss and Swedish armed forces personnel, has been stationed in the DMZ.

Kim II-Sung remained in power until his death in 1994 and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il. Currently, Kim Jong Il’s son Kim Jong Un is the Supreme Leader of North Korea.

A Bittersweet Symphony

The relationship between the two Koreas is of a “blow hot, blow cold” nature. There is antagonism and reconciliation, alternatively. Peace steps were initiated a number of times, but they invariably broke down because of isolated incidents.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a severe economic crisis in North Korea and thousands of North Koreans fled to South Korea. In 1998, South Korean president Kim Dae-jong announced a ‘Sunshine Policy’ and this led to a meeting between him and Kim Jong II, the leader of North Korea, in June 2000. As a result, the former was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In September 2000, both countries’ teams marched together at the Sydney Olympics. Trade, business, investments and tourism between the two countries also increased remarkably in the early 2000s.

On 2 October 2007, the South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun arrived in Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-II. They discussed the advancement of South-North relations, peace in the Korean Peninsula, common prosperity and reunification. On 4 October 2007 the two leaders signed a peace declaration.

A year earlier, a nuclear test by North Korea on 9 October 2006 dampened spirits worldwide. Thus far, the North has conducted a total of six nuclear tests to the annoyance of everyone. It has developed ICBMs and boasts that it can deliver nuclear devices to any corner of the US.

Of Tweets and Nuclear Buttons

Kim Jong Un boasted during his 2018 New Year Speech that he has a nuclear button on his table which he could use against the US. Donald Trump took it literally and boasted in response that he has a bigger nuclear button on his desk. This was followed by weeks of confrontational rhetoric by both sides with news reports, videos, and tweets flying all over the table.

In the context of this give-and-take, the participation of North Korea in the Winter Olympics signals a welcome chance to repair a fragile relationship. Against the background of this new-found warmth, the North and the South held a high-level meeting on 9 January 2018 — the first in more than two years.

The two nations announced that they would hold further military talks to improve relations. The heads of the delegations at the meeting expressed hope for rapprochement between the two nations.

Seoul called for a de-nuclearisation deal to secure peace in the Peninsula. However, many sceptics see the talks as delaying tactics on the part of the North.

Supporting the overtures, US President Trump has also committed to sending a “high-level delegation” to the Winter Olympics and has praised the inter-Korean agreement with the caution it deserves.

As of 6 February 2018, North Korea has deputed a team of athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The relations between the two nations rest at “games” and we have to watch what shape they take in the future. The world also waits and watches to see what shape the nuclear ambitions of North Korea will take.

(Y Udaya Chandar is a retired Colonel from the Indian Army. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)