U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley says it’s still ‘an open question’ of whether American athletes can safely attend the games near North Korea.
The Winter 2018 Games will already be an unusual Olympics, what with Russia being banned because of its mass doping program. Not only that, but it’s been a long time since the Olympics was so overshadowed by the international political climate, so it’s sure to feel extra chilly in South Korea this February.
U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told Fox News that the U. S. is still doesn’t know if it will attend the 2018 Games, slated for February 9-25 in Pyeongchang:
Indeed, North Korea has been urging Americans and other foreigners to leave South Korea since at least September. Those notices were just scare tactics, but Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has followed them up with a very real warning for Americans in the region — evacuate now. “I want [the Pentagon] to stop sending dependents,” Graham told CBS’s Face the Nation. “And I think it’s now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea.”
So, is now the time to move the world’s most elite athletes closer to North Korea? Haley provided more perspective:
Back in 2011, there was no way the International Olympic Committee could have glimpsed seven years into the future when they were deciding between South Korea, Germany, and France. Who could have predicted that North Korea would be making threats of war while Donald Trump (then subject of a White House Correspondents roast) trades schoolyard insults with Kim Jong-un? But since those are now the circumstances, it’s up to participating countries to decide how to make the best of them.
(Via Fox News & CNN)
