North Korea Reopens Diplomatic Discussions Through South Korea

With the Olympics over, it appears that the political environment has gone back to what it was before the games, full of tension. Although the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, has said that the North Koreans are willing to engage in open talks with the U.S., nothing has been confirmed. Diplomatic relationships between the North and South have reopened, but it will take time for real progress to be made.

The first signs of reconciliation between the warring countries of North and South Korea took place as the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea commenced. This is the first time in Olympic history that the two Koreas have competed under one flag.

Although they shared a common flag, the athletes were representing their respective countries. However, the only team that consisted of participants from both countries playing under the name “Korea” was the women’s hockey team.

The Koreas split after falling victim to the Cold War, when the U.S. took over the land south of the 38 parallel and the Soviet Union controlled the territory north of it. Each country went their separate ways from there. As the South flourished and became a democracy, the North was brought up with a communist government and maintained it even after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The gesture of unity is a start for the Koreas. Their constant bombardment of threats, mainly consisting of the use of their nuclear weapons arsenal, to South Korea and the rest of the world have tremendously strained their reputation and relationships. This act will shine a positive light on them, but only to an extent.

The general consensus of South Koreans believes this is an orchestrated act in order for North Korean President Kim Jong Un to insert them back into the world discussion and preserve their regime. Although this is the belief of most, there are still some who see this as a positive. Their arguments consist mainly of it being a sign of reconciliation and the eventual unification for them to become one “Korea” again.

Most likely, North Korea did this in order to benefit just themselves. They are not known for taking such a conservative approach toward any political issue involving another country or countries, so something is eerie about their willingness to cooperate. Never have they attempted to take the peaceful method into their interactions with others.

Even though this was a good effort on North Korea’s part, it shouldn’t take away from the reason why we see them as a threat. They still have their hands on nuclear weapons and haven’t retracted their warnings about using them, so the act should be taken with a grain of salt. All these years of their menacing remarks shouldn’t be forgotten just because of one action.