Tag: Winter Olympics

I would not be surprised at all if this mask was intended by the North Koreans to look a little like Kim Il-sung just to stick it to South Korea’s conservatives who have been critical of the Kim regime’s participation in the Winter Olympics:

The unification ministry on Sunday denied a local news report that the image of North Korea’s late founding leader Kim Il-sung appeared on the mask worn by North Korean cheerleaders during an ice hockey match involving the unified team of the two Koreas.

The female cheerleaders, dressed in red, put the masks on while rooting for the women’s ice hockey team comprising athletes from the South and the North as the team played its first match Saturday against Switzerland during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The mask bore the image of a man, and a local media outlet reported that it was an image of the North’s revered founder when he was young. That report sparked criticism that the North was using the Olympic event for propaganda purposes.

But the South’s unification ministry said the report was based on an incorrect assumption.

“After checking with a North Korean official at the scene, it has been confirmed that there was no such meaning whatsoever, as assumed in the report,” the ministry said in a release, adding that the North Korean official also confirmed it was impossible to use an image of the North’s founding leader in such a way.

Officials said it was just an image of a good-looking man and the mask was worn when the cheerleaders sang a North Korean song, “Whistle,” whose lyrics are about a man’s unrequited love for a female neighbor.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the left in South Korea is claiming this is all fake news drummed up by South Korea’s conservatives.  Here is a picture of the young Kim Il-sung, I will let readers be the judge if it was a young Kim Il-sung mask or not.  Here is a picture of a young Kim Il-sung (center) with his wife Kim Jong-suk (right), and his son Kim Jong-il (left):

Pence leaves South Korea after three-day visit https://t.co/65flMP5UCL

— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) February 10, 2018

Is it just me or does Kim Jong-un sister, Kim Yo-jong have the smuggest smile I have ever seen?  Here is a picture of her arriving at the airport:

Kim Yong-nam (R), North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s top leader Kim Jong-un, walk into a reception room at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. The two are members of the North’s high-level government delegation that came to the South on the same day for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap)

Here she is at the welcome reception:

Kim Yo-jong lightly smiles during the welcoming reception hosted by South Korean unification minister at Incheon International Airport’s VIP reception room, Friday. / Yonhap

Here she is sitting next to US Vice President Pence at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.  This was probably a pretty awkward moment for everyone involved:

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attends the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in the host town of PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. Seated behind Pence are Kim Yo-jong (R), the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, the North’s ceremonial head of state. (Yonhap)

South Korean TV sees some parallels in the way the Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are sending family members to the Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/DfRBUcWC9L

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) February 7, 2018

It is pretty clear that the Kim regime is using the Winter Olympics to set a precedent for other countries to point to in order violate United Nations sanctions:

Both Kim Yo-jung and Choe Hwi are sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses. Kim because she is “part of the agency in North Korea who’s responsible for propaganda, for censorship, controlling information so that the people of the country do not know about the rest of the world,” says the Treasury Department. Choe is subject to United Nations sanctions, as well, which actually bar him from leaving his country.

Choe is “First Vice Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, which controls all Democratic People’s Republic of Korea media and is used by the government to control the public,” the United Nations says. The South Korean government is reportedly trying to get an exemption to the travel ban for the Olympics from the UN Security Council.  [Weekly Standard]

You can read more at the link.

I guess Kim Jong-un wanted his sister to personally attend the Winter Olympics and relay his extortion demands to the ROK government:

Kim Jong-un’s dear sister, Kim Yo-jong, is set to become the first member of North Korea’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the rival South this week.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul announced Wednesday that Kim Yo-jong, presumed to be aged about 30, will be part of a high-ranking government delegation attending the Winter Olympic opening ceremony slated for Friday.

The team will be led by Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state. Kim Yo-jong is widely believed to be powerful and close enough to the leader to directly represent his views.

Kim’s visit could further boost the reconciliatory mood between the Koreas. Seoul wants to pave the way for the restoration of relations and possibly to talks for the denuclearization of the North.

Kim’s high status in the North Korean leadership and close blood tie with the leader raised expectations that she may serve as the reclusive brother’s representative to the South Korean government.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Condoms are placed on a table for free distribution at the Olympic Village in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Feb. 6, 2018. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un’s propaganda squad is getting ready for their big performance in South Korea:

North Korea’s art troupe on Wednesday held a rehearsal for its upcoming performances in South Korea, which will celebrate the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The 140 member-strong Samjiyon Orchestra traveled to the South by ferry Tuesday to perform in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the Feb. 9-25 Winter Games, on Thursday, and in Seoul on Sunday.

It will be the first performance by North Koreans in the South since 2002, when Pyongyang sent a cohort of 30 singers and dancers from several music and performance groups to Seoul for a joint event.

After having lunch in their Mangyongbong-92 ferry, which is docked at the South Korean eastern port of Mukho, the North Koreans showed up at the Gangneung Arts Center, the venue of their first performance, at about 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday in an atmosphere quite different from that of the morning.

They changed to casual attire from the stylish red coats and black fur hats and ankle boots for female members and from black coats and hats for males.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I see that the reason they brought the performers by ferry is because it can serve as a floating jail for them.

Via a reader tip comes news that a virus is spreading among workers at the Winter Olympics:

Some security agents responsible for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games have been infected with norovirus, forcing organizers to quarantine about 1,200 agents and replace them with soldiers.

The committee categorized 41 staff members as “suspected patients” on Monday.

Earlier the day, the committee had said three of them were confirmed to have contracted the virus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, while 38 were suspected of having it.

The patients vomited and suffered from stomach pains. Some of the agents were in charge of the athletes’ village, raising concerns that the virus may affect international athletes who will stay there.

The patients, mostly university students, were hired by a recruiting agency to provide workforce for screening at the entrance of venues.

Organizers said the virus appeared to have originated from Horeb Odaesan Youth Training Center in PyeongChang, where the agents stayed in a room for six in a group of 10. The Institute of Health and Environment under Gangwon Province Office found traces of the virus in a drinking water dispenser, and in shower rooms and in washroom basins.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but if a number of athletes get sick because of this virus, this will be a major setback for South Korea who is hosting the games.

Here is the cost so far of paying off the Kim regime to attend the Winter Olympics:

The government had already diverted more than W250 million from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund as of Thursday to help North Korea take part in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (US$1=W1,072).

That is expected to snowball once all 500 members of a massive cheerleading squad, an orchestra, and a Taekwondo demonstration team arrive here around the time the Olympics open.

The government is not saying what the money has been spent on, despite fears that its support could violate UN and U.S. sanctions against the North Korean regime.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but this is likely just the tip of the iceberg of the money spent on the Kim regime to attend the Winter Olympics to essentially prevent them for causing provocations during the games.

I guess if Apartheid South Africa had moved forward with developing a nuclear program and threatened to nuke everyone they could have not only attended the Olympics, but had the red carpet rolled out for them and had someone else pay to compete in the games.