On Tuesday North Korea stated that it will be sending a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Reuters reported that North Korea during talks with its southern neighbor said that it would send a group of athletes, high ranking officials and a cheer squad to the Olympic Games.
This comes shortly after representatives from the two countries met on the border in Panmunjom. The meeting comes after Seoul last week proposed talks ahead of the upcoming Winter Games.
Ri Son Gwon was the leader of the North Korean delegation for the talks and opened the dialogue.
“We came to this meeting today with the thought of giving our brethren, who have high hopes for this dialogue, invaluable results as the first present of the year…” he said.
South Korea repeatedly suggests that the athletes from both countries walk together during the opening ceremony of the games.
After a hard year of pressure over North Korea, and a concern of South Korea as well the rest of the world over Pyongyang’s nuclear program, this meeting comes as a relief that there is still hope in ending this issue peacefully.
President Donald Trump suggested last week that he is responsible for the South and North’s proposed talks, last Saturday at Camp David the President told reporters that he would like to see North Korea “involved” in the winter games.
“I’d like to see them getting involved in the Olympics and maybe things go from there. So I’m behind that 100 percent,” he said.
On the other hand, the Republican Senator of South Carolina Lindsey Graham said in a tweet earlier this year that if North Korea sends athletes to the games the U.S. should boycott them.
“Allowing Kim Jong Un’s North Korea to participate in #WinterOlympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet.
I’m confident South Korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if North Korea goes to the Winter Olympics, we do not,” he tweeted.
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