On January 1st, 2018, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un used his annual New Year’s Day message to suggest that his officials could meet their South Korean counterparts to discuss sending athletes from North Korea to South Korea for the upcoming Winter Olympics in February. South Korea responded on January 2nd by proposing that talks could be held in the truce village of Panmunjom, the only place in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas where soldiers from both countries are stationed.
On January 15th, both countries met to discuss the Winter Olympics yet again and left people with the hope that the tensions between the two countries will descale. Both sides gathered at the truce village to discuss the upcoming games in February. Only two North Korean figure skaters have qualified for the games, Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik. North Korea will also be sending a 140 member orchestra to play during the games. North Korea offered another level of peace and wishes to continue their talks on Wednesday.
However, North Korea’s nuclear attacks are not over either. The country’s leader has said that the nuclear crisis will resume after the 2018 Winter Olympics have ended. North Korea has not tested their weapons in over a month, as of January, and are eager to get back to their normal schedule as soon as the games are over. The U.S. has also delayed their military exercises until the last gold medal has been placed around the winners’ necks.
New meetings were scheduled for the weekend of January 20th and 21st until Kim Jong-un suddenly canceled the meeting. Without explaining the reason for canceling Kim Jong-un’s sudden decision, South Korea is unsure if the meeting is permanently canceled or just merely postponed.