North Korea Seen Set to Hold Military Parade on Eve of Olympics

A former North Korean spy has warned against trusting the regime’s eagerness to collaborate with South Korea at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

GETTY•REUTERSThe Winter Olympics have brought the Koreas closer together – but will the improved ties last?

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres are expected to attend the opening ceremony, so Abe’s attendance is also aimed at confirming the cooperation of the global community.

The Pyeongchang Olympics will run from February 9-25.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in had indicated from previous year his intention to invite Abe to the Pyeongchang Olympics, and Japanese officials were keen on the idea of having the prime minister visit South Korea. “They need to have experience playing with our team, and that will be the only game that they’ll be with us before we play in the Olympics”.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who will represent the United States at the Olympics, said on Tuesday he would seek to counter what he called Kim’s effort to “hijack” the Games with a propaganda campaign, a White House official said.

She also said South Koreans in the city of Gangneung had “been cooperative” and showed signs of promise for a successful performance.

“We can only take 23 players to the Olympics and they thought these North Koreans are going to come in and take our spots”.

The South will consider relieving North Korea of relevant sanctions in order to ensure the North’s participation in the games. They say North Korea is launching a “peace offensive” ahead of the Olympics as a way to weaken US -led global sanctions and buy time to flawless its nuclear weapons.

Shinzo Abe Wednesday pledged to attend the Winter Olympics in South Korea, ending speculation he would snub the event after an emotional war of words with Seoul over a deal on wartime sex slavery.

The unified team will compete under the name “Korea” while the remaining athletes will compete for their respective countries. “The information in the North’s announcement was more or less identical to what was discussed when the preliminary review team visited”, the official added. “Everybody should respect their athletes from their country”.

Monday saw a rally in central Seoul at which members of the far-right burned a photo of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, the North’s national flag, and the Korean unification flag. A Pyeongchang organizing committee official said nothing has been decided.

They were “traitors and psychopaths” whose actions amounted to “defaming the dignity of the supreme leadership”, said Ri Myong, of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, which is linked to the authorities in the North.

Despite the opposition, the Moon government hopes that an Olympic-inspired mood of detente would serve as a stepping stone to the resumption of diplomatic talks that could slow down North Korea’s nuclear advancement.

The vice president plans to travel a lot in the coming months.