North Korea Agrees To Join Winter Olympics In South Korea

North Korea has formally agreed to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea. It further revealed that it will send a delegation of high-ranking officials, athletes and a cheering squad to the The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as PyeongChang 2018 international multi-sport event is scheduled to take place from Feb. 9 to Feb. 25 in PyeongchangCounty, South Korea.

South Korea’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung said Seoul proposed inter-Korean military talks to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula and a reunion of family members in time for February’s Lunar New Year holiday.

South Korea also proposed that athletes from the two Koreas march together at the Games’ opening ceremony and other joint activities between the two nations during the Winter Olympics, Chun told reporters outside the first formal talks between North and South Korea in more than two years.

The talks are being closely watched by world leaders eager for any sign of a reduction in tensions on the Korean peninsula amid rising fears over North Korea’s missile launches and development of nuclear weapons in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The meeting was to continue on Tuesday afternoon after the two sides broke up for separate lunches.

It began at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) in the three-storey Peace House just across the demilitarised zone on the South Korean side of Panmunjom truce village.

“North Korea said that they are determined to make today’s talks fruitful, and make it a groundbreaking opportunity,” Chun said.

Chun also said the South Koreans proposed resuming negotiations over the North’s nuclear programme but there was no specific response from the North Koreans.

According to Chun, North Korean officials said during the meeting they were open to promoting reconciliation between the two countries through dialogue and negotiation.