Winter Olympics: First Test For Joint Korean Ice Hockey Team

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42935738

I might be a little optimistic here but isn't this a good sign ?

[Zacs-Master]

On the face of it, yes. But I suspect darker, propagandist motives by the North.

[mikey4444]

Better jaw jaw than war war. The fact that they can cooperate in sport must be a good sign.

[Zacs-Master]

Yeah, but how do you know the jaw jaw isn’t a smoke screen for war war going on in the background?

[bhg481]

I'm with Zacs here - deeply suspicious of anything North Korea does.

[ichkeria]

A very good sign. The North could easily have ramped up its anti-South propaganda using the games as an excuse.
The joint team gives them a stake in it, and they are presumably unlikely to attack Seoul while its own athletes are south of the parallel. At one stage a N Korean team looked unlikely

[vulcan42]

Apparently the north is going to hold a huge military display on the Olympics opening day. Not sure if this is a good thing or bad but it's certainly odd, seeing as they usually hold it in June/July.

[-Talbot-]

and they are presumably unlikely to attack Seoul while its own athletes are south of the parallel.


Yes because NK cares ... really cares for its citizens.

[ichkeria]

It would be even odder were the winter olympics to move to coincide with the parade :-)
Of course Kim doesn't give a **** about his own citizens but there is probably a slight difference between secretly having them shot or starved to death and wiping out a few of his elite athletes in full view of the world when he could just have not bothered sending them

[-Talbot-]

If he did attack the south, I doubt the first concern of the world at large would be



OMG ... and he did it with his own elite athletes there!

[vulcan42]

The difference here ichkeria, is you're looking at it logically, Kim Jong-un doesn't. He's also sending hundreds of cheerleaders etc, I wonder how many of their family's are being held hostage to ensure they return, most I would suspect. I was wrong in my previous statement, his parade will take place the day before the Olympics open and normally takes place in April.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42930587

[ichkeria]

Much as I’d always be suspicious of anything Kim does of course, moving a large military parade to coincide with the Olympics strikes me as just the sort of thing he’d be likely to do. It doesn’t seem that odd to me.
As for ‘logic’ that is all one has to go on!
As for S Korea I doubt if they’ll be relaxing their guard just because the N Koreans seem a bit friendlier just now.
I still say that it’s a positive ‘thing’ - if ‘sign’ seems a bit reckless :-)

[cassa333]

Ah but they lost to Sweden so some of them might not make the full Olympic team !

[ichkeria]

That WAS the full Olympic team wasn’t it?
I’m not sure even the S Koreans on their own would expect to beat the Swedes

[Zacs-Master]

Confucius say never turn back on spitting Cobra.

[youngmafbog]

It would be nice to be optimistic about the future of NK, however where KJU is concerned one just cant help but be suspicious.

[cassa333]

No it's not the full Olympic team till they get there lol