Mattis: Too early to tell if Olympics will help Korean peace
February 11, 2018
A slight warming of relations between North and South Korea during the Winter Olympics might not be enough to lead to peace on the peninsula, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday.
"It is too early to say if ... using the Olympics in a way to reduce tensions, if that is going to have any traction once the Olympics are over, we can't say right now," Mattis told reporters.
Read more: South Korea investigates cyberincident at Pyeongchang Olympics ceremony
Mattis questioned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's intentions, specifically pointing to his decision to hold a military parade before the games.
"In the midst of all this, he ran a military parade that highlighted his ballistic missiles. That is a very strange time, if in fact he is trying to show a warming," the US defense chief said.
Others have voiced concerns that the North is attempting to use the Olympics to flout international sanctions, including bringing its 100-member-strong art troupe in by sea — causing the South to treat the ferry as an exemption to maritime sanctions.
Read more: In Seoul, Germany's Steinmeier warns Koreas that reunification needed luck, and hard work
North invites South for talks
His comments followed the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit the North's capital Pyongyang.
Kim Yo Jong, the 30-year-old sister of the North Korean leader, said her brother hoped to host a summit with the South in an attempt to improve ties following a prolonged period of animosity.
Moon has not yet accepted the invitation, but he has been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff over North Korea's missile and nuclear program.
US President Donald Trump's administration, on the other hand, has pursued a strategy of using harsh rhetoric and pushing through tough sanctions. Washington has also said that the North must first give up its nuclear program before any dialogue can occur.
Read more: North Korea welcomed to Olympic Village with national anthem
Mattis said that the diplomatic gestures between the two Koreas at the Olympics have not caused a rift between Washington and Seoul.
"On a political level in Seoul, there is no wedge that can be driven between us by North Korea," Mattis said
Should Moon take up Kim Jong Un's offer for a summit, it would be the first one to take place between the leaders of the two countries since 2007.
rs/jm (AP, Reuters)