North Korea may use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics for surveillance, terror experts warn

KIM Jong-un was on the phone call that changed everything between North and South Korea. It also just gave him the ticket he needed to carry out the next stage of his secret plan.

NORTH Korea could use the Winter Olympics to install double-agents into crowds at events in an intelligence-gathering mission, terror experts warn.

And athletes competing in PyeongChang, South Korea have been told they risk their personal safety by leaving the village, with robberies and stabbings a real possibility.

“Rather than rocket attacks or nuclear strikes I would be more concerned about the dangers of being robbed or stabbed,” said security expert and CEO of Calamity Monitoring Daniel Lewkovitz.

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A South Korean soldier and U.S. Marine take part in joint military winter exercises in Pyeongchang in December. Picture: AP

“That is what the athletes need to be aware of, that they could be the target of criminal elements if they do leave the safety of the Olympic Village.”

North Korea has accepted South Korea’s request to send a large delegation to February’s Winter Olympics after talks were held between the countries at the border truce village of Panmunjom.

North Korea has two athletes to have qualified.

Meanwhile, experts say Kim Jong-un’s missile ambitions and the Olympic host city’s proximity to North Korea will be put on the backburner during the Games.

PyeongChang lies just 80km south of the heavily fortified border between the countries who technically remain at war.

The Lowy Institute’s Dr Euan Graham said the North’s change of diplomatic tact was a canny strategic move.

“The North knows that spoiling South Korea’s party at the Olympics would be seen as unwelcome and unacceptable,” he said.

“There is a very low risk of any attack on the Olympic sites. North Korea would not be stupid enough to alienate China and Russia with any provocation.”

However Dr Graham, who is Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program warned the threat of North Korea would resume once the Olympics are over on February 25.

“What we are seeing now is not a changing of the course, it is par for the course,” he said.

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South Korean policemen participate in an anti-terror drill at the Olympic Stadium. Picture: Getty

“The US and South Korea military exercises might have been postponed but the fact remains there is no fundamental resolution in sight. North Korea will be reenergised by the Olympics and continue to play the game once they are over.

“The tensions go down in the short term but in the long term they return.”

Mr Lewkovitz said the Games presented North Korea with a golden opportunity for espionage and to create beneficial shifts in the political landscape they could not pass up.

“There are a number of strategic benefits at the Olympics for North Korea,” he said.

“Their agents have a unique opportunity to blend in and conduct surveillance in South Korea on diplomats and media from around the world they would not have if the Games were held elsewhere.

“They have the chance to form relationships and exert influence, opportunities they would not otherwise have. They won’t want to disrupt the Games.

Daniel Lewkovitz, chief executive of Calamity Monitoring. Picture: Richard Dobson

“I don’t know about winning hearts and minds but they are presented with the chance to improve international relations and in the process neuter their critics.

“If diplomacy was an Olympic sport, this would be the best Olympic Games ever.”

The tense location of this year’s Winter Olympics will not deter competitors said Jana Pittman, the only female athlete that has competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

“It’s not something that would stop me from going and it is not something that will stop them from going,” Pittman told News Corp

“I would not be afraid.

Astrid Radjenovic (l) and Jana Pittman during the Women's Bobsleigh at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. Picture: Getty

“I hope that humanity prevails and the athletes are saying that by committing to the Games.

Michelle Steele who competed in two Winter Games in arguably one of the most dangerous disciplines, the Skeleton, said North Korea’s threats could still play on athletes’ minds.

“There is definitely that discussion when you hear of stories, there are those whispers of concern about the venue,” she said.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, athletes from the two Koreas marched together under a "unification flag". Picture: AP

“The athletes will know about it, but you just need to focus on what you are doing and leave that to those that are in control of that

“It was very surreal going past snipers on the way to Sochi (Games in 2014) venues but you see it, you take it in and move on.”

Michelle Steele on a skeleton run at Sochi. Picture: Getty

The ANU’s professor Clive Williams told News Corp that United States intelligence underestimated how quickly North Korea would progress with its missile program.

But that program would not pose a threat to athletes at PyeongChang.

“Their fear of being attacked by America is why it was accelerated, not because they want to necessarily use it against the South,” he said.

Professor Williams, who has a background in Defence intelligence and security said North Korea could move closer to North Korea as a result of the games.

“If they could drive a wedge between South Korea and the US, North Korea would see that as a good thing,” he said.

Originally published as North Korea may use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics for surveillance, terror experts warn