TEHRAN, January 23 -The South Korean government has rejected local criticism that North Korea has been receiving too much attention because of its scheduled participation in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The South Korean government has rejected local criticism that North Korea has been receiving too much attention because of its scheduled participation in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.
The presidential Blue House said on Tuesday that Pyongyang’s participation in the event would help reduce the current tensions between the two sides.
A number of South Korean opposition politicians had earlier voiced criticism over the North’s participation in the Winter Olympic Games — due in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang — complaining that the “Pyeongchang Olympics” has turned into the “Pyongyang Olympics.”
The Blue House responded by saying that the games had to be called the “Peace Olympics,” in a reference to how the event has brought the two Koreas together.
“We can’t understand putting an outdated tag of ‘Pyongyang Olympics’ to the Pyeongchang Olympics, which will be a ‘Peace Olympics,’” Government spokesman Park Soo-hyun announced. “We’re confident that the Olympics will be a stepping stone to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, to Northeast Asia and the world.”
Under a deal approved by the International Olympic Committee, the Koreas will field their first unified Olympic team in women’s hockey, and will have their athletes parade together under a single flag during the February 9 opening ceremony.
The administration of South Korea’s liberal president, Moon Jae-in, has come under pressure for its decision to mend relations with the North, and Moon’s approval rating has fallen to a four-month low at 66 percent due to a backlash over the decision regarding the combined hockey team, a poll showed on Monday.
South Korean opposition politicians joined by a crowd of protesters gathered at Seoul Station on Monday as North Korean music star Hyon Song-wol — heading the high-profile Winter Olympics delegation from the North — was passing by and set fire to a North Korean flag and an image of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Source:Press TV
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