South Korea has proposed direct talks with North Korea over participation in the Winter Olympics which are to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month. North Korean leader, Kim Jon-Un, opened the possibility of sending a North Korean delegation to the games in a New Year’s address to his nation. “We should melt the frozen North-South relations” this year, the leader said.
South Korea suggested that the two nations meet January 9 in the border village of Panmumjom to discuss participation. A spokesperson for the South said yesterday that they are always willing to talk with North Korea. South Korean Olympic organizers called the prospect of North Korean participation in the games like a “New Year’s gift,” and said it was welcomed. There is hope that talks over the Olympics will ultimately lead to a ratcheting down of tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program.