The theme of the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics is “Peace” – fitting for an Olympics taking place just 80 kilometres from a country, North Korea, that’s still technically at war with the host.
North Korea is sending a delegation of around 500 people to the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, including athletes, coaches, cheerleaders and entertainers. It will march alongside South Korea in the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 9, under a unified flag and the two countries will even field a joint women’s hockey team.
And while organizers and participants are expecting a peaceful Olympics, they are taking some security precautions.
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According to a September report from Reuters, South Korea was planning to deploy thousands of soldiers and hiring a private company to guard against cyber-attacks. A Special Weapons and Tactics team will also search Olympic venues to check for bombs, protect athletes and visitors and protect against attempts to assassinate key figures, said a police inspector in September.
The United States says it is not aware of any specific threats to the upcoming Winter Olympics and it’s confident that American athletes, coaches and spectators will be safe, despite heightened tensions with North Korea.
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State Department officials said they had prepared for all threat contingencies and will be sending roughly 100 diplomatic security agents to PyeongChang – about as many as have been sent to previous Olympics.
Similarly, Canada doesn’t anticipate any threats, though some RCMP officers will accompany the athletes to the Games. “We work closely with our partners at the federal government and security agencies, including the RCMP and select international agencies, to ensure the entire team remains safe throughout the games,” wrote Canadian Olympic Committee spokesperson Photi Sotiropoulos in an emailed comment.
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“The RCMP has assigned Security Liaison Officers to the Canadian Team, and they continue to monitor security measures and arrangements at Games and liaise with the South Korean authorities to assist with security recommendations to the Canadian Olympic Committee.”
Greg Scalatoiu, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, thinks it’s unlikely North Korea would attack the Olympics. “I don’t think they would have much to gain from an attack, from a provocation.”
But, that doesn’t mean they won’t try anything else.
“They will be taking centre stage. International media will be reporting on their cheerleaders, on their athletes, on their propaganda activists. What better time to proceed with a nuclear test?”
A nuclear test would reassert North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and help it push for recognition as a nuclear power, he said.
North Korea is also planning to display its military power at a parade on the eve of the Olympics. The North Korea monitoring group 38 North said in an analysis on Wednesday that satellite photos showed some 12,000 troops and 110 artillery pieces, tanks and armored vehicles practicing for a parade.
Although the celebration to honour the founding of North Korea’s military has been held in April for decades, this year, the government switched it back to its original date – Feb. 8 – the day before the Opening Ceremony.
–With files from Reuters and the Associated Press
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