South Korea furious at rogue nation’s Olympic inclusion

SOUTH Koreans slam the inclusion of rogue neighbour in ‘peace Olympics’ burning pictures of Kim Jong-un while denouncing move for athletes to march under one flag.

NORTH and South Korea agreed to put past tensions aside and promote a “Peace Olympics”.

However, some South Koreans have slammed the decision to make temporary amends with the hermit kingdom, accusing Seoul of embracing Kim Jong-un’s propaganda efforts amid the nuclear and missile crisis.

Though South Korean President Moon Jae-in touted the recent Olympic breakthrough as a “historic event,” his push to include North Korea has received sharp criticism, Fox News reported.

“North Korea was all about firing missiles last year, but suddenly they want to come to the South for the Olympics? Who gets to decide that?” Kim Joo-hee, a 24-year-old translator, told Reuters in Seoul.

“Does North Korea have so much privilege to do whatever they want?”

Other South Koreans took to social media shortly after the North and South announced the joint opening ceremony march, writing that the unification flag — a blue silhouette of the peninsula placed on a white background — was “not [their] goddamned flag”.

South Korean protesters denounce the unification flag and Kim Jong-un during a rally in Seoul. Picture: Yonhap/AFP

“Yeah. Like me. That is NOT my goddamned flag. I did NOT salute that rag while I was in the ROK Army. It is not the flag that draped over the coffins of those 46 sailors of the ROKS Cheonan that those b**tards murdered,” John Lee tweeted.

He added: “I repeat. That is NOT my goddamned flag.”

Another person wrote: “The Pyeongchang Olympics have already become the Pyongyang Olympics.”

Other South Koreans told The Associated Press their government’s efforts to use “sports diplomacy” was a waste of time and an “outdated approach.”

“We are always repeating meaningless things and North Korea isn’t a country that will change easily,” Kim Hye-jin, 39, said.

“Why are we doing this?” said Heo Doo-won, a 40-year-old teacher. “We are clearly two different countries and it’s better if things stay that way.

“I don’t want a unified team or a unification flag. Why can’t we just let the North Koreans march under their own flag?”

Others said the Olympics have become free propaganda for North Korea to promote places such as the Masikryong ski resort, which Kim has been pushing to make a go-to tourist destination.

South Korean protesters argue Seoul has swallowed Pyongyang’s propaganda. Picture: AFP/YONHAP

“The idea of joint training could be used as a propaganda tool to rationalise how farsighted Kim Jong-un was in making what was actually an anachronistic decision to build the ski resort at a time when ordinary citizens are starving to death,” Kim Sung-han, a former South Korean vice foreign minister, told Reuters.

In a series of meetings conducted since the start of the New Year, North Korea agreed to send a delegation — including a 140-member art troupe, 230-member cheerleading squad, 22 athletes, reporters and officials — to the Olympics that will march with the South Korean team under the unification flag at the opening ceremony.

South Korea will be the first host country to not wave its own flag at the opening ceremony.

Mr Moon urged the public to support the February 9-25 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, saying the current thaw in tensions could dissipate in a second.

“The current condition is so fragile that no one can be optimistic about how long the dialogue will last,” Mr Moon said, according to Yonhap.

North Korean singer Hyon Song-wol waves as she arrives at the Gangneung Railway Station in South Korea ahead of the North’s inclusion in the Winter Olympics. Picture: Kim In-chul/Yonhap/AP

Under a deal brokered by the International Olympic Committee, the two Koreas will field their first unified Olympic team, in women’s hockey, and have their athletes march together under the joint flag depicting their peninsula during the February 9 opening ceremony.

The renewed anger comes as the head of the North’s extremely popular girl band passed them on Monday during a visit to Seoul.

Hyon Song-wol, a North Korean celebrity who heads Mr Kim’s hand-picked Moranbong Band, began a two-day visit on Sunday, triggering a media frenzy in South Korea about Hyon, who is also in charge of the North’s artistic performances during the Olympics.

It has been rare for such a high-profile North Korean to travel to South Korea in recent years as bilateral ties deteriorated over North Korea’s nuclear program before the nations abruptly began seeking to improve relations this month ahead of next month’s Olympics.

After her visits to potential venues for North Korean performances in an eastern city, Hyon arrived back on Monday at the Seoul railway station where she saw about 150 to 200 activists protesting her visit and recent inter-Korean rapprochement deals.

Hyon saw the activists but did not react.

After she left the area, the demonstrators used a blowtorch to burn Kim’s photo, a North Korean flag and a “unification flag” that athletes of the rival Koreas plan to carry together during the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Police used fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but the activists later stamped on Kim’s photo and the flags and burned them.

Police plan to investigate the protesters.

— with the Associated Press

This article originally appeared on Fox News and has been republished here with permission.