PYEONGCHANG, South Korea: While its athletes are returning home empty-handed from the Winter Olympics, analysts say nuclear-armed North Korea deserves a gold medal for its diplomatic skills – but that the Games-driven detente will be short-lived. An intense rapprochement saw the two Koreas march into the opening
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea: While its athletes are returning home empty-handed from the Winter Olympics, analysts say nuclear-armed North Korea deserves a gold medal for its diplomatic skills – but that the Games-driven detente will be short-lived.
An intense rapprochement saw the two Koreas march into the opening ceremony together behind a unification flag, and South Korea’s president shared a historic handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visiting sister.
North Korea sent 22 athletes to the Games, most of whom had humiliating finishes, and a hastily-assembled joint women’s ice hockey team lost every one of its five matches, scoring just twice while conceding 28 goals.
But analysts say the Winter Olympics was never about winning medals for the North.
“It was all about image-making,” said Koo Kab-woo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
“They proved they are not a ‘rogue state’ and also got around sanctions.”
Tensions between the two soared last year as Pyongyang tested missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and its most powerful nuclear device to date, while Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump traded personal insults and threats of war.
The North is subject to multiple rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over its banned weapons programmes.
After prevaricating for years over whether it would take part, North Korea sent its athletes and 200-plus female cheerleaders who roamed the Games venue with big smiles and friendly waves, becoming a focus for many spectators.
The sight of North and South Korean hockey players hugging and tearing up after the unified team’s final match touched many fans, despite initial opposition in the South to the formation of the team.
