North Korea to send Winter Olympics delegation to South Korea
North Korea will send a delegation to South Korea on Sunday to prepare for a trip by an art troupe for next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea. The seven-member delegation was scheduled to arrive in South Korea today, but North Korea had the trip cancelled before agreeing to it again. North Korea's participation in Winter Olympics has been seen as a diplomatic breakthrough.
North Korea to participate in the Paralympics too
Officials from both North and South Korea have met multiple times in the last 10 days to discuss the Winter Olympics. The North Korean delegation is set to arrive by a land-based route, which means that it will cross the heavily fortified border. North Korean officials also said that they plan to send a team to participate in the PyeongChang Paralympics in March.
North and South Korea to march under one flag
North Korea's involvement comes after months of tension over its nuclear and ballistic missile programme. At the UN, North Korea also recently criticized US intervention in inter-Korea relations. In what appears to be a major diplomatic breakthrough, the two Koreas will field a combined women's ice hockey team and march under the same flag at the Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang.
Japanese foreign minister warns of North Korea's "charm offensive"
After North Korea announced its plans to send a 230-member cheering squad to Pyeongchang, Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Kono warned of falling for Kim Jong-un's "charm offensive", suspecting that the country was buying time to develop its nuclear programme. Other critics also pointed out North Korea's "peace offensive", saying that it was trying to showcase itself as a normal country despite its nuclear ambitions.
