Ivanka Trump to lead US delegation at Olympics’ close

The United States and Canada square off in women’s hockey February 15, and to paraphrase the late Keith Jackson, “These teams plain don’t like each other”.

While South Korea prepared to welcome Kim Yo Jong, Vice-President Mike Pence said in Japan that the U.S.is preparing to announce the “toughest and most aggressive” economic sanctions against North Korea, boosting pressure on its government during the Olympics.

North Korea has dismissed criticism of its plans, saying no-one had the right to take issue. “But on the other hand, we must squarely face the fact that North Korea continues to pursue nuclear and missile programmes”. The ship now chiefly operates between North Korea and Russian Federation. “But we’ll see what happens”, he said.

“Their moves are lovely”.

“I look forward to reinforcing the important priority that President Trump and the United States places on the relationships with these two nations”, Pence said during a refueling stop on his way to Japan. “Especially, I like Ryom Tae Ok”.

There will also be no shortage of interest when the first Jamaican women’s bobsleigh team compete 30 years after the men’s team from the Caribbean island inspired the Cool Runnings movie.

Still, they can provide clues about what weapons Kim has under development.

The White House said in a statement that the Pences’ presence at the Olympics will “reinforce the strong US presence on the Korean Peninsula and send a clear message of American resolve to the North Korean regime”.

“It shows the North’s resolve to defuse tension on the Korean peninsula”, Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a news briefing. Tokyo and Seoul also have a territorial dispute over islands in waters between the two countries. The troupe’s leader, Hyon Song Wol, created a media frenzy during a preparatory visit last month, with South Korean TV stations following her every move.

One of those in the 2005 group, Ri Sol-Ju, went on to become the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. South Korean officials have brought in 900 South Korean soldiers to work as security for the games. But what’s wrong with a North Korean flag?

Games sponsor Samsung Electronics has donated 4,000 “Olympic edition” handsets of its flagship Galaxy Note 8 device to be distributed among athletes and IOC officials free of charge.

The sudden Olympics-inspired mood of detente began after Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s Day address that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics.

Twelve of those athletes will compete as part of a unified women’s ice hockey team in what is the strongest gesture of Olympic cooperation between the two countries in years. There are several clues – although no firm confirmation – that a high-level interaction between US and North Korean officials alongside the Olympics is in the works.

“Even though South Korea can have all these foreigners come to its country, this big, peaceful exciting event with all this global attention – you know everybody still has to pay attention [to the North]”.

The court was also holding a separate hearing in a case involving 32 Russian athletes who appealed against their exclusion from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. But critics argue that North Korea only wanted improved ties to receive shipments of food and other aid to help revive its economy, which crumbled during a crippling starvation in the mid-1990s that killed hundreds of thousands of its people.

“Through the participation of North Korea, the “Peace Olympics” has been realized and this will lead a foundation to improve inter-Korean relations”, Games chief Lee Hee-beom told reporters. -North Korea contact on the sidelines of the sporting event, which will also be joined by high-ranking North Korean officials.

And at a meeting in South Korea on Tuesday, former WADA president Dick Pound hit out at the way the International Olympic Committee had handle the Russian affair, claiming the athletes have become victims of two broken systems, not just one. He is considered the head of state, although all power resides with Kim Jong Un.

The 15-hour time difference with South Korea means there will be plenty to follow for night owls and early risers.