Compromise for Olympic games
March 7, 2018
South Korea and North Korea plan to display unity at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea’s capitol of Seoul, but despite the show, nothing will change.
The two Koreas agreed to 19 pledges, one being to have a united female hockey team and another to march under a united flag.
However, North Korea has already broken one of the pledges and given rise to hostility. North Korea moved the date of a military parade, celebrating their national military day, up to the starting date of the Olympics, Feb. 8.
The movement of this date made South Koreans uneasy, and their discomfort was reflected in the news.
North Korea then cancelled one of the pledges, a joint cultural event between the two nations, due to the news coverage of the North’s military parade in South Korea.
The parade is just another reminder to the South Koreans of the hostility of their neighbor.
North Korea had also cancelled sending a team of performers to inspect the concert halls where they would be performing, though this decision was reversed and the performers were sent one day late.
South Korea has been very patient with North Korea, but these slights have not gone unnoticed, creating even more tension.
These issues are signs that the uneasy compromise won’t lead to much. The cooperation for the Olympics has started much needed dialogue between the two nations, but differences between the two nations still deeply divide them.