Playing Under Neutral Flag

Many are taking credit for the change we are currently seeing taking place between both North and South Korea, but one has to ask who really deserves credit for the changing social climate.

We are now hearing direct from President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach who has recently stated that the door was officially opened by the games at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics.

They were the ones that deserve credit and not any one or two politician’s who mentioned that they were responsible to “opened the door” for the historic meeting between both countries.

True the leaders of North and South Korea have met and for whatever reason seemed to have resolved any conflict, no different from a marriage counselor would have done.

Both the leaders of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un have pledged to slowly reduce the weapons held on both sides of the border.

Should this happen many would consider it a miracle and this would end the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.

The summit itself was held in the truce village of Panmunjom, was only the third meeting between the leaders of the North and South.

It may sound strange but both mentioned that they openly “declare to their 80 million people and the world that there will no more war on the Korean peninsula.

Sports for the most part brings peoples of different cultures together and unites them for one main goal allowing them for a brief moment of time to forget their differences

Earlier at the Olympics we saw North and South Korea march together under the unification flag at the Opening Ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018 and, for the first time in Olympic history, competed together as part of a unified Korean women’s ice hockey team.

President Bach mentioned at February’s IOC Session that Pyeongchang 2018 has “brought real hope” to everybody in the Korean Peninsula by encouraging better relations between North and South.

This past November (2017) saw the United Nations back an Olympic Truce that saw resolution that were to be observed during the Games.

The IOC and the world were pleased to see both Korean Governments enter the stadium together for the first time in a long time.

This declaration that was initiated by the IOC made possible the participation of North Korean athletes in Pyeongchang as well as the joint march behind one flag at the Opening Ceremony.

No different than the athlete’s, but leaders (Moon and Kim) have agreed to end all differences between both nations.

Many analysts are therefore still sceptical about the North’s apparent enthusiasm for engagement.

Last month, United States President Donald Trump claimed Moon had credited him for the success of the 2018 Winter Olympics, adding that the Games would have been a “total failure” without him.

Kim reportedly committed to his country participating at Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 during a meeting with Bach in Pyongyang last month.

Bach made a special three-day visit to North Korea and focused to capitalise in cooling any possible tension focused partly by the participation at Pyeongchang 2018.

Most in the world were hoping that the Olympics were as a chance to suppress and confrontation and one could clearly state that the Olympic have opened the door.

No question that the politicians will take all the credit as the world moves forward!!