North Korea to 400-500 people to the Pyeongchang Olympics

For Premier Lee, the North’s participation will make the Winter Games a historic event, which will leave a profound legacy. The Olympic city is only 100 km from the demilitarized zone. A contribution to reducing the security situation on the Korean peninsula and to peace in the world.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - North Korea will send a large delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, between 400 and 500 members. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said yesterday, stating that participation of the "brothers" of the North will be a historical fact, which will leave an "important legacy".

In a first high-level meeting two days ago, the South and North agreed to send a delegation from Pyongyang for the Winter Olympics. It should include high-profile government representatives, athletes, supporters, teams of artists, taekwondo groups (martial art in which North Korea is a leader), journalists.

The meeting took place after two years of rupture, tensions, nuclear threats and isolation.

Speaking to some companies sponsoring the Games, Lee stressed that "it will be difficult to say that the festival of mankind taking place in PyeongChang, just 100 kilometers from the Demilitarized Zone, will make no contribution to the human history. It is bound to make contributions of a sort and leave traces.".

"Just as the '88 Olympics contributed to dismantling the Cold War, we earnestly hope that the PyeongChang Winter Olympics will improve the current state of the Korean Peninsula, which is in a grave security situation and ... contribute to world peace by reducing security risks," he said.