In an historic move, both North and South Korea are set to march together at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.The games will take place in Pyeongchang in South Korea, opening in just 20 days.The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, confirmed the news earlier this morning.He offered his "sincere thanks" to the governments of North and South Korea for coming to an agreement. South Korea offering an olive branch. North Korea striking a defiant tone. And the world waiting to see if tensions rattling the Korean Peninsula could undermine an Olympic Games, with calamitous consequences.That was the backdrop 30 years ago as South Korea prepared to host its first Olympics in the summer of 1988.In some ways, the fears then are reverberating today — with potentially even more at stake because of North Korea's nuclear ambitions.But this year, as snow-capped PyeongChang — just 50 miles from the border with the North — prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month, foreign policy analysts say the lessons of the Seoul Games could show the region how to move closer to not only a trouble-free event, but a path to permanent peace.  The 1988 Games were "a major missed opportunity for South Korea," said Sergey Radchenko, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington who has studied North Korea's role in the Olympics. "They missed the opportunity to engage with the North.So what's different this time around?High-level talks between the North and South this month led to an agreement to not only have their Olympic athletes march together for the first time since the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, but to form their first unified Olympic team.A dozen female ice hockey players from North Korea will join players from the South to compete under a blue-and-white unification flag. There are other team sports in the Winter Games, but ice hockey is always something special, and not just for the audiences it commands," Radchenko said. "I just hope that the joint team performs well. It is perhaps the most contentious angle of the entire exercise.That's because a small group of activists, including defectors from the North, protested the unified hockey team in Seoul this week, burning images of the North Korean flag and dictator Kim Jong Un. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who swept into power last year, ending a decade of conservative rule in the democratic country, also saw his approval rating drop to a four-month low after the agreement was announced, Reuters reported. He was spurned in part by his base of young South Koreans who are unhappy that the North is appearing to try to steal the spotlight.  South Korea, however, is trudging ahead with plans for a united games in PyeongChang.It's a departure from the 1988 Seoul Games, when North Korea wanted a bigger seat at the table during the Olympics and sought to make its capital, Pyongyang, a co-host — even though North and South remain technically at war, without an actual peace treaty after the Korean War ended.Radchenko, in a 2011 report looking back to the Seoul Games, wrote that the North's desire to co-host could have jump-started inter-Korean dialogue if it had been handled differently.  But rounds of talks held between the International Olympic Committee and the North fell apart in July 1987 as the two sides wrangled over details. While the South appeared open to the North hosting a few sports, the North decided it wasn't worth the trouble — refusing to even march with the South Korean delegation during the opening and closing ceremonies, normally seen as a symbol of hope and reconciliationThe North's boycott of the ceremonies only stoked anxiety for Olympic organizers.The IOC's president at the time, Juan Antonio Samaranch, "was very worried by the prospect of some horrific scenario unfolding in South Korea in the run-up or, worse, during the Games," Radchenko wrote.And something did happen.In November 1987, a Korean Air passenger jet flying from Baghdad to Seoul blew up in midair, killing all 115 on board. Most were South Korean nationals.  The downing was discovered to be the work of two North Korean spies, who planted a bomb disguised as a small clock and a bottle of wine in the plane's overhead compartment, according to a CIA report in 1988.The two spies, man and a woman, got off the plane at a stopover in Dubai and did not get back on; both were later captured. The man committed suicide by chomping down on a cigarette containing cyanide. The woman — Kim Hyon-hui, 25 at the time — tried to do the same, but survived and was later sentenced to death.But South Korea's president at the time pardoned her, believing she was brainwashed by the North and forced to carry out the bombing.  Radchenko said that Pyongyang "pinned its hopes" on such terrorist acts raising that specter of fear before the Seoul Games.The South, in response, strengthened its security and didn't cower — with the Olympics going off without a hitch. (The host nation even came in fourth in the final medal count.This year, Kim Jong Un is going full-steam ahead with his PyeongChang charm offensive, including sending a delegation that is expected to include a 230-member singing and dancing cheer squad."Kim Jong Un has an interest in winter sports — he's even opened his own ski resort," said Columbia University professor Stephen Noerper, a senior policy director at the Korea Society and a former senior analyst at the U.S. State Department. "He's starting to understand that [participating in the Olympics] provides an important coming out for North Korea."  But the Trump administration warns that any show of sportsmanship by the regime is an attempt to spread its propaganda and shouldn't stymie criticism of the North's poor human rights record.Still, there's hope for some that the Koreas' Olympic détente will result in actual peace talks. Kim's government has not promised to discuss its nuclear and missile programs, and analysts warn that once the games are over an emboldened Kim could start ramping up missile testing again after test-launching three intercontinental ballistic missiles last year.The hope is to get them to consider coming to the table" about their nuclear program, Noerper said. "It's an aspiration, but it's one that the games — because of what it represents — can make nations work toward."  North Korea will send a delegation of officials and athletes to next month's Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, it was announced Tuesday after the first high-level talks between the countries in more than two years.The two nations also agreed to hold military talks aimed at reducing animosity along their tense border and to "actively cooperate" in the Games, which open on Feb. 9 in PyeongChang some 50 miles from the boundary.The sensitive discussions, held in Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), were closed to outside observers.We have high expectations that the Olympics turn out to be a peace festival with special guests from the North," said South Korea’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon.  His North Korean counterpart, Ri Son Gwon, added that he was optimistic about the talks as long as their “innocent intention and cooperation are united.In the past, talks have not gone smoothly.  Duyeon Kim, a visiting senior research fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum, a think tank in Seoul, said previous summits were plagued by posturing and “nitpicking.It’s clear that the North is focused on the atmospherics and the PR aspects of these talks this time,” she said. “The big question will be what actions North Korea shows after the Winter Olympics. How will Kim Jong Un prove he is serious about inter-Korean relations?During the latest talks, North Korea brought up sending a large entourage — including a high-level delegation, a performing arts group, athletes, cheerleading teams, media and others — to the Games, said South Korean Deputy Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung.The South raised other possible areas of cooperation, such as reuniting families separated by the Korean War in 1950-53 and ways to ease military tensions, Chun added.  The discussions came afer the U.S. and South Korea on Thursday announced the suspension of military exercises during the Games.When the ancient Greeks used to hold the Olympics, they held a truce," said Moon Chung-in, a special adviser on foreign affairs and national security to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in. "We are living in a civilized world. It is the logical choice.With the Games only weeks away, the participation of North Korean athletes also requires agreement from the International Olympic Committee in Geneva because North Korea missed a key deadline for registration.The Associated Press, citing Japanese media, reported Sunday that a delegation from North Korea was en route to Geneva. The IOC declined to confirm the visit to NBC News but said it was considering allowing the North Koreans to participate.Two North Korean figure skaters have qualified for the Games, and one issue that must be addressed during the negotiations is how they would travel to PyeongChang and where they would stay. A majority of South Koreans support helping to cover the expenses of the North Korean delegation, according to a poll taken last Friday and reported by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. For the South Korean president, he's staking his political future on inter-Korean reconciliation, and he wants to try to broker U.S.-North Korea talks," said Kim of the Korean Peninsula Future Forum.For Kim Jong Un, securing participaton in Games is a chance to convince the world that his nation is not a dangerous rogue state, she said. The Olympics creates "an opportunity, an international platform, to raise its profile and its standing in the world," she added.  However, the risk that the renewed dialogue will be undermined by actions seen as provocative by either party remains high, even before a thaw.The sooner talks with Americans get going at a high level, the better," said John Delury, an associate professor of East Asian studies at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies.

North Korea hasn’t engaged in negotiations over its nuclear program since the collapse of the "six-party" talks in 2009 involving North and South Korea, China, the U.S., Russia and Japan.Those talks were aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, but Pyongyang pulled out after facing international criticism for testing a missile. North Korea is preparing to stage a major event marking the 70th anniversary of the its military’s founding on Feb. 8 -- just one day before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.A major show of military power could anger South Korea, which is hoping the games will be a symbol of peace and stability. Seoul has agreed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's last-minute proposal to send a delegation to the games and will have its athletes march together with the North Korean team under a "unification flag.Pyongyang residents have been assembling every day in freezing temperatures to practice for a mass rally by civilians in Kim Il Sung Square, while open-source satellite imagery obtained by outside analysts suggests military units are training at an airfield on the outskirts of the city for a possible military parade.North Korea's state-run media hinted earlier this week that an event was in the works, saying the February anniversary would be marked with more significance and pomp this year.The news raised eyebrows because the February anniversary comes one day before the opening ceremony for the Olympics in Pyeongchang, which will run Feb. 9-25.North Korea's military parades are closely scrutinized for the unveiling of new missiles. But with no official confirmation, it isn't clear if the North would soften the event out of consideration for the Olympics or build it up into an even bigger spectacle for domestic propaganda purposes and as a slap at Washington.An analysis published on a Johns Hopkins University-affiliated website showed satellite images suggesting that by Jan. 10 "considerable progress" had been made assembling troops and equipment for the upcoming parade and shelters for heavy equipment had been erected.City governments that host the Olympics often face a dilemma—after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build arenas and event spaces, what do you do with them once the games are over?For South Korean officials mulling the future of the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, the answer is straightforward—just tear it down.The stadium, costing 116 billion won ($109 million), will be used only four times in the course of the games—twice in February, for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, and then twice in March, for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympics. After that, it will be demolished.With 35,000 seats, it’s one of several new facilities that the government has built to accommodate the games, according to Joongang Iibo (link in Korean). There’s also the Gangneung Speed Skating Center (126.4 billion won), the Gangneung Ice Arena (134 billion won), the Gangneung Hockey Center (106.4 billion won), the Kwandong Hockey Center (62.7 billion won), the Jeongseon Alpine Center (203.4 billion won), and Olympic Sliding Center (114.1 billion won). The Olympic Village, which will house the athletes, is also new (link in Korean).According to the Associated Press, local officials are stumped as to what to do with some of these other facilities once the games are over. Failed proposals include converting the speed skating arena into a gambling venue for betting (on skating) and turning one of the hockey centers into a home for a corporate hockey team.During inspections of the facilities in August, officials from the International Olympic Committee warned the organizers that the facilities risked becoming “white elephants” after the games.It’s not uncommon for Olympics venues to fall into disarray once the games are over. In a best-case scenario, they become sporting facilities that get used frequently: The Centennial Olympic Stadium, built for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, was converted into a home for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, where they resided for about 20 years.But often the venues are neglected. After a major reconstruction of Rio de Janeiro’s decades-old Maracanã for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, the facility quickly deteriorated, suffering a worm invasion and rampant looting. In Athens, sites built for the 2004 games also rapidly decayed and plans to turn the 10,000-unit Olympic Village into a public housing development with schools and hospitals became mired in bureaucracy.Still, it’s unusual for the main Olympics stadium to be built and then knocked down as soon as the games are over. Among the long list of countries that have hosted games, France leads the way when it comes to bringing the wrecking ball. The Olympic Stadium for the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble was torn down immediately after the competition, as was the Théâtre des Cérémonies that hosted the opening and closing spectacles of the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.Given Pyeongchang’s size—the county has a population of 45,000, just 10,000 more than seats in the Olympic Stadium—tearing the venue down might make more economic sense than paying to keep it up.Pyeongchang, South Korea -- For most of us, the 2018 Winter Olympics start with the opening ceremonies.Per Olympic tradition, the opening ceremonies feature artistic, cultural performances and the lighting of the Olympic flame.Athletes from each of the competing countries are also recognized during the parade of nations.Mixed doubles curling round robin matches and men's ski jumping individual normal hill qualifications are scheduled for Feb. 8.Have the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games turned into the Pyongyang Games? Hardly.But North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has seized the Olympic spotlight, with the agreement that athletes from both sides of the Demilitarized Zone will march under a unified flag during opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympics next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.The International Olympic Committee signed off on the deal Saturday. North Korea will send 22 athletes, including a group of women’s hockey players who will join South Korean players to field a combined women’s team. North Koreans will also compete in figure skating, short-track speed skating, cross-country skiing and Alpine skiing.

The North Korean delegation will include some splash — a 230-member cheer squad, dancers, an orchestra and North Korean pop diva Hyon Song-wol, whose hit, “A Girl in the Saddle of a Steed,” extols the virtues of a female textile worker. North Korea, shunned by much of the world for its hell-bent push to build its nuclear weapons arsenal, a country that has repeatedly vowed to annihilate Seoul in a “sea of fire,” now wants the world to think it embraces Olympic comity and fair play.Forgive us if we don’t start stocking up on Korean unity flags.Of course, this sudden expression of unity beats the usual brinkmanship and fiery bluster we get from the Kim regime. But North Korea is adept at the game of freeze and thaw. This isn’t the first time that the North has clasped hands with the South at an Olympiad — it did so at the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000. And when South Korea hosted the Asian Games in 2014, North and South Korean athletes appeared together under a unity banner. What followed? Three underground nuclear detonations and test launches of more than 40 ballistic missiles, including one capable of hitting Washington.Kim’s strategy? Maybe to play peacemaker at a time when the Trump administration is pushing a strategy of pressure on Pyongyang through sanctions and threats of answering North Korean belligerence with “fire and fury.” It may be that the sanctions are working, and that Kim’s trying to push the U.S. to ease off. Or, he simply may be trying to drive a wedge between South Korea and the U.S.Pyongyang’s goals have been consistent through generations of Kim family leadership. Self-preservation of the regime. The withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. And, eventually, reunification with the South, under Pyongyang rule.That’s why both the U.S. and South Korea have to tread carefully with Kim’s latest chess move. A few optimists in Washington may be heartened by this hint at rapprochement, but it’s not time to consider letting up on sanctions. Similarly, South Korea should think twice about the boundaries of this Olympic gesture. Would Pyongyang show the same amity if the U.S. one day pulled out of South Korea?There’s something else Seoul should consider. These Olympics mark the first time South Korea has ever hosted the Winter Games. It’s a landmark moment for Seoul, a source of immense national pride. South Korean athletes who have endured years of early morning workouts and aching bodies will march into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium not under their own flag, but under a unity banner — a blue Korean Peninsula on a white background. The Olympics are about moments. Will that moment feel right to those athletes and their countrymen? Or will they feel sold out?North Korea and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single unified Korea flag at the Winter Olympics, according to South Korean officials.

Seoul's Unification Ministry says the Koreas reached the agreement during talks Wednesday at the border village of Panmunjom. It says athletes from the two Koreas will march together under a "unification flag" depicting their peninsula during the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang.The measures require approval by the International Olympic Committee, which will be consulted over the weekend.The two countries have also agreed to form a shared women's ice hockey team in a historic moment for the peninsula. This will be the first time ever that a united team from the two Koreas has competed in the Olympics.This follows the announcement, made earlier today, that North Korea will be sending a 230-person cheering squad to next month's Games as part of the country's 550-strong delegation, which will start arriving in South Korea on 25 January.North and South Korea opened talks over the Winter Olympics  last week - the first time in two years the two nations have been in dialogue.This has offered respite from rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, which it is pursuing in defiance of United Nations sanctions.Despite an apparent thaw in relations between the two Koreas, Japan has urged caution over the North’s “charm offensive”.It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said. “The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.The initial proposals to form a joint ice hockey team were also met with apprehension, with concerns being raised raised that South Korean players could lose their place to competitors from the north.Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said on Wednesday that the government is aware of public concerns that adding North Korean players could displace South Koreans who have made the team. Before Wednesday's announcement, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during a visit to a training centre, told players: “I don’t know if it will happen, but a joint team will be a good opportunity for ice hockey to shed its sorrow as a less-preferred sport as many Koreans will take interest."The joint Korean march to start the 2018 Winter Olympics, as agreed to by the two sides on Wednesday, has been a long time coming for two countries that have been technically at war for over six decades.Officials from the two Koreas reached the agreement at the border village of Panmunjom during a working-level meeting. It followed high-level talks on Jan. 9, during which South Korea first proposed the joint march.North Korea didn't immediately respond to the suggestion at the time, although it did offer to send a delegation of athletes and high-ranking officials, cheering and performing art squads, taekwondo demonstration teams and journalists. The two sides scheduled a separate meeting to discuss issues on North Korea's participation, including the joint march. And North Korea agreed to the South's earlier proposal, setting up a monumental occasion for the Feb. 9 opening ceremony at the first Winter Olympics to take place on Korean soil. This will be North Korea's first participation in an Olympics held in South Korea. It boycotted the 1988 Seoul Summer Games.It will be the first joint Korean march into an opening ceremony at an international sports competition in 11 years and the 10th overall.The first came at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. Athletes from the Koreas also walked in together at the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and the 2006 Torino Winter Games.There have been joint marches at two Asian Summer Games and two Asian Winter Games, along with a Summer Universiade and an East Asian Games. The last one came at the 2007 Asian Winter Games in Changchun, China.Inter-Korean cooperation, sports-related or otherwise, had been virtually non-existent under the past two conservative regimes in Seoul. After liberal-minded President Moon Jae-in took office last May, South Korea adopted a more conciliatory stance, even amid North Korea's military provocations.

As early as June last year, South Korea raised the possibility of forming a joint Korean team at the PyeongChang Olympics. Both Moon and Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan called on North Korea to participate in the competition, saying its presence would help improve strained inter-Korean ties.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also supported South Korea's overtures, saying such ideas reflect the Olympic spirit of promoting peace and goodwill. PyeongChang's Olympic organizers say they've been making preparations for possible North Korean participation in the quadrennial event, using manuals from the 2002 Asian Games and the 2003 Universiade as references.North Korea currently doesn't have any qualified athletes for PyeongChang but should have little problem sending at least a few to a select events in PyeongChang. The IOC has pledged its support to ensure North Korea's participation and may well grant the country some wild-card entries.The North Korean pairs figure skating team of Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for a spot last fall, but North Korea missed an Oct. 30 deadline to submit the tandem's entry. Should the IOC decide to open up extra spots for North Korean athletes, Ryom and Kim are prime candidates to receive one.The Koreas also agreed to put together a joint women's hockey team at PyeongChang 2018, another major development from Wednesday, and the size of the roster will be determined in the coming days.Officials from the two countries' national Olympic bodies will attend a meeting chaired by IOC President Thomas Bach on Saturday at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they will look to hammer out the details of North Korea's participation, including protocols such as flag, uniform and anthem.At Wednesday's meeting, the Koreas agreed to march in under the Korean Unification Flag, which bears the image of the Korean Peninsula colored blue against a white background.The Korean Unification Flag represented the two countries at all previous joint marches, but PyeongChang 2018 presents a unique problem because South Korea is the host. Raising the Unification Flag would make South Korea the first Olympic host not to bear its own flag at an opening ceremony.North Korea has won a few medals at Summer Olympics over the years but has been invisible in previous Winter Games. It didn't send any athletes to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, four years ago and won no medals in the two competitions before that. North Korea has won just one silver and one bronze in its eight Winter Games appearances so far.At Torino 2006, the only previous Winter Olympics where the Korean athletes marched in together, there were 44 South Koreans and 12 North Koreans on hand at the opening ceremony.In PyeongChang, North Korea's cheering squad and other delegates could easily outnumber the country's athletes. During Wednesday's talks, North Korea offered to send a cheering team of 230.At the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, North Korea had 362 athletes and 288 members of its cheering squad. At the Summer Universiade the following year in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, North Korea was represented by 221 athletes along with a cheering team of 306.The last time North Korea took part in a multi-sport competition in the South was at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. It had 273 athletes then, with no cheering team, but it sent three high-ranking officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, now de facto No. 2 man in Pyongyang, to the closing ceremony.The 2018 Olympics take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the first Winter Games in the country’s history. From Feb. 9-24, nations from all over the world will compete in predominantly cold-weather sports such as hockey, curling, figure skating, and much, much more.While some events begin in advance, the Feb. 9 opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium signals the official beginning of the Games.22 North Korean athletes will compete in three sports and five disciplines at the games.Athletes from both North and South Korea will march together under a Korean unification flag.Known as a can't-miss cultural spectacle, the opening ceremony is a made-for-television event which includes a parade with all 93 participating countries, an artistic program featuring an assortment of visual and musical performances unique to South Korea and, of course, the lighting of the Olympic torch.In the United States, a 14-hour time difference between South Korea and the East Coast means watching the Games live will be challenge at times, but Olympic enthusiasts have plenty to look forward to. NBC, the official U.S. broadcast partner, hasn’t aired an opening ceremony live since the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and will continue that trend in 2018, but there are other ways to tune in.Here is everything you need to know to watch the opening ceremony.Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, a 35,000-seat open-air pentagonal stadium, is the primary venue for the 2018 Games and the site of the opening and closing ceremonies.North and South Korea announced a combined Olympic team for the first time ever, a symbolic gesture in attempt to thaw decades of tension between the nations. The two Koreas plan to march together under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and also agreed to form a joint women’s ice hockey team. A delegation of 22 North Koreans were given exceptional late entries by the International Olympic Committee, including 12 women's hockey players. They rest will compete in figure skating, short track speed skating, Alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.

Ralph Lauren is back in charge of creating the outfits for the U.S. Olympians to wear during their march. The company has released what the closing ceremony outfits will look like, but has not revealed anything about what will be worn on Feb. 9.In Sochi, Ralph Lauren made headlines with the choice to go with the patriotic cardigans for those opening ceremonies.North Korea and South Korea established contact on a hotline that's been dormant for almost two years Wednesday, a major diplomatic breakthrough following a year of escalating hostility and a move that could pave the way for future talks.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave the order to open the line at 3:00 p.m local time (1:30 a.m. ET), according to an announcement on state media in the hours before the two phone calls to the South took place.According to South Korea's Unification Ministry, the North Koreans made first contact at exactly the time ordered, and the sides were on the phone from 3:30 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. local time (South Korea is half an hour ahead of North Korea).During the initial 20-minute connection, the two nations "checked technical issues of the communication line," according to a statement from South Korea's Unification Ministry.The Unification Ministry said North Korea phoned for a second time several hours later on the Panmunjom hotline, suggesting the two sides wrap up business for the day.The North Korean side called our side at 6:07 p.m. (4.07 a.m. ET) and said 'let's call it a day today,'" the ministry confirmed.Other than checking that the link-up was operational, it is unclear what was discussed. A ministry spokeswoman told CNN that there was no mention of future talks or the Olympics.A South Korean official communicates with a North Korean officer on the dedicated communications hotline at the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday.Contact had been initiated after Kim expressed hope that a North Korean delegation might participate in next month's Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.The calls came just hours after an astonishing tweet from US President Donald Trump, who again taunted the North Korean leader, this time with a boast about the size of his nuclear button. During Kim's New Year's Day address, the North Korean leader had claimed he had a nuclear button of his own on the desk of his office.It's unlikely the timing of North Korea's offer of talks was related to Trump's tweet, however.Relations between North and South Korea have warmed in recent days. During an unusually conciliatory New Year's speech, the North Korean leader extended a rare olive branch to the South, suggesting discussions about sending a North Korean team to the Winter Olympics should start "as soon as possible." In response, South Korean President Moon Jae-In called for swift measures during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to smooth North Korea's participation in the Games.

Some analysts have said that North Korea's willingness to talk to South Korea could be an attempt to drive a wedge between the US and its South Korean ally.The South Korean government, being quite frightened about Washington's bellicosity, is quite ready to welcome the North Korean initiative, and this might lead to an annoyance in the US," said Andrei Lankov from Seoul's Kookmin University.Others argue that talks between the Koreas could be advantageous for Washington. Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, says all forms of communication should be welcomed.A better North-South relationship would help Washington and the international community to better understand North Korea and to talk it into taking substantive measures of self-restraint," he said.Wednesday's contact between the two Koreas marks the first time in almost two years that a special direct hotline in the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone has been used to connect the two countries.Until Wednesday, North Korea had not answered since February 2016 when South Korea suspended operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex, a business park that once employed workers from both sides.We have been calling North Korea twice a day at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. but North Korea has not been responding since we had the last contact in February 2016. Nonetheless, we have been calling them every day Monday through Friday," a spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry told CNN on Tuesday.The Kaesong Industrial Complex was closed after Pyongyang launched a satellite into space, in what was widely interpreted as a front for a missile test. It followed Pyongyang's claims in January 2016 that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.There's been no letup in North Korea's ambitions since; during 2017 it conducted a record number of missile launches and carried out the country's sixth nuclear test.China reiterated its support for renewed dialogue between North and South on Wednesday, and expressed its hope the US and North Korea can find a way of easing their nuclear rhetoric going forward.China welcomes and supports both the DPRK and South Korean sides taking the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as an opportunity to make effective efforts to improve mutual relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.Referring to Trump's tweet, Geng added: "We hope that both parties can resume dialogue and build mutual trust as soon as possible instead of trying to be brazen and shout with each other.Moon's office welcomed Wednesday's gesture for talks and expressed optimism that they'd be extended from participation in the Winter Olympics to other issues.The restoration of the communication channels means a lot. It is assessed that (we) are headed to setting up a structure through which contacts can be made on a regular basis," said presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan in a statement echoed by the country's Unification Ministry.Moon has championed the 2018 Winter Olympics, set to begin February 9, as a possible means of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. the South Korean leader described the Games as an opportunity for inter-Korean peace and reconciliation, and expressed his hope that the North would participate.Only two North Korean athletes have qualified for the Games -- pairs figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-sik. However, the country's National Olympic Committee did not meet an October 30 deadline to accept its spot.There has been talk of the International Olympic Committee granting an additional quota, something previously proposed by Choi Moon-soon, governor of the Gangwon province that will host the Winter Games.If North Korean athletes can participate in the Winter Games and even parade together with their South Korean counterparts in the opening/closing ceremonies, that would send the North-South relationship to the highest level ever seen over the past few years," Tong told CNN.Daniel Pinkston, a professor of international relations at Troy University, told CNN he expected that North Korea would seek to participate in the Olympics in some capacity, "given the regime's view on sports and the opportunity the Games present for the North to deploy its soft power resources and to exploit any intel collection opportunities."Trump's hardline stance was backed by the country's Ambassador to the United Nations, who reiterated Tuesday that the US "will never accept a nuclear North Korea.Before the calls between North and South Korea, Nikki Haley said Pyongyang needed to ban all nuclear weapons as a precondition for any talks."We consider this to be a very reckless regime, we don't think we need a Band-Aid and we don't think we need to smile and take a picture," she said. "We think that we need to have them stop nuclear weapons and they need to stop it now.After a year of increased missiles tests, threats and claims of nuclear capabilities, it's not clear why Kim has decided it's now time to talk. Lankov from Kookmin University says the most likely explanation is "uncertainty in Pyongyang.They hear strange noises emanating from the White House, and they cannot be sure whether President Trump is bluffing when he hints at his willingness to use force. So, they obviously decided to slow down, and start the charm offensive now," he said.Lankov added that while there's no suggestion North Korea is going to curb the pace of its nuclear program, the resumption of talks with the South might mitigate increasing tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.The new developments will indeed decrease the likelihood of a war breaking in Korea as a result of the US military strike," Lankov said.Earlier this week, Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute, told CNN that the North's offer of talks with South Korea shouldn't be taken at face value.Up until now, they just haven't shown any interest in engaging with the South, or anyone else for that matter," he said.But an olive branch is always wrapped in some sort of belligerent coating in North Korea, it doesn't mean the end of the nuclear program.Even if they do reach out and send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they accompanied that with a continuing testing program as the spring comes, be that a submarine launch or satellite launch," Graham added.After months of increasing tension, North Korea decided Wednesday to reopen a long-suspended hotline used for communicating with the South — potentially marking a thaw that could lead to Pyongyang sending a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics, due to be held next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.The presence of North Korean officials and athletes at the games may calm jitters about potential missile tests or worse occurring during the events, which will be held just 50 miles from the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.There'd also be a symbolic element to North Korea's participation in the games. Pyongyang has long used sporting achievements at international events to bolster its reputation abroad. Both Koreas also have used Olympic events to make gestures toward reconciliation, even marching together under a shared flag at a number of events.But critics argue that after a year of provocation, North Korea cannot be trusted to compete. In a tweet Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) called on South Korea to reject Pyongyang's overtures to join the games, arguing that it “would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet.”Despite Graham's concerns, North Korea has a long history at the Olympics. Pyongyang has sent athletes to every Summer Olympics since 1972, except for two it boycotted — the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Games in Seoul.The country has won 54 medals at Summer Olympics, including 16 gold medals, with weightlifting and wrestling its most successful sports. Given the country's small size and small gross domestic product, its performance has been relatively successful.

Part of North Korea's success in the games no doubt comes from sheer political will. Successful athletes often enjoy well-funded facilities and relatively luxurious lifestyles, compared with their peers, North Korea analyst Christopher Green told WorldViews last year, although the risk of defection means that they often lead cloistered lives while in the Olympic Village.Perhaps surprisingly for such a mountainous country with cold winters, North Korea has performed far worse in Winter Olympics, gaining only three medals total despite competing in eight games since 1964. The only North Korean athletes to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang are two figure skaters, Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik.For some South Koreans, there has long been a hope that North Korea might attend the games. This was partly out of  concern that North Korea might disrupt the event in some way if they it was not a part of it. Ticket sales for the Pyeongchang games have been lagging, a point some attributed to concern about the risks posed by North Korea.Such concerns are understandable: A year before the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, North Korean agents bombed a Korean Air flight, killing everyone on board, in an apparent attempt to disrupt it. The presence of North Korean athletes or a delegation should deter the risk of such events.But there was also a hope that North Korea's participation could provide a route toward reducing tensions on the peninsula. North Korea and South Korea have marched together in a number of Olympic Games opening ceremonies under what is called the Unification Flag, designed to represent all of Korea, though the countries still competed separately.Even though these gestures have faltered in recent years (plans to form a joint delegation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics fell apart because of North Korean demands), the potential power of the Olympics for the Koreas was shown by the huge response in 2016 when a North Korean gymnast posed for a picture with a South Korean athlete.But many worry that Pyongyang will use its participation in the games to attempt to extract concessions from Seoul. Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst who is now an expert on North Korea at the Heritage Foundation, said that the joint procession at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney may have looked hopeful, but behind the scenes things were different.“North Korea had demanded and received a secret payment from Seoul, payment for the North's uniforms, and agreement that the North's delegation would not be outnumbered by the South's — necessitating many South Korean athletes and coaches from not marching into the stadium as part of the Korean entourage,” Klingner wrote in an email.Although both North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have suggested a willingness to cooperate on the Olympics in the past few days, there may be a lot of details to work out still. Technically, North Korea has missed the deadline to send a delegation, although the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday that it considered the invitation to Pyongyang still open for the time being.The two Koreas would need to meet to decide how North Korea's participation in the event would proceed; the South has proposed a meeting next week in the truce village of Panmunjom. Experts suggest that even that meeting would need to be carefully arranged because of protocol concerns.Sticking points at the talks might include any concessions demanded by the North Koreans, such as the canceling or delaying of planned U.S.-South Korea military exercises to be held next year. Other factors, including the size of a delegation and the route it would take into the country, could throw up unexpected road blocks. If talks were to collapse, it could add to the already tense situation on the peninsula.Writing for the BBC, North Korean leadership expert Michael Madden said that North Korean participation in the games could provide an incremental step that could be built upon.For Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in, and to those who follow the peninsula closely, DPRK participation will be an excellent public relations opportunity, and also cause a temporary pressure drop in neighborhood geopolitical tensions,” wrote Madden, a visiting scholar of the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS-Johns Hopkins University.But as the United States and its allies propose putting ever more pressure on North Korea, others may balk at decreasing the country's isolation without a tangible benefit. Klingner compared the situation to the restrictions placed upon apartheid-era South Africa.As the world seeks to isolate and pressure North Korea for its repeated violations of U.N. resolutions, it should ask itself why Pyongyang is still allowed to participate in the Olympics but Pretoria was shunned,” Klingner wrote.The 2018 Winter Olympics are set to begin in February and if you’re a sports fan, or, just enjoy watching athletes from around the world representing their countries while competing for Olympic medals, then the Pyeongchang Winter Games will keep you entertained throughout the month of February.Below is a brief guide to provide you with some basic information about the location, start and ending ceremonies, the games, and how to watch/live stream online. This year, the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea which is located about 78 miles east (126 km) of Seoul, the country’s capital.This will be the second time the Olympics will be held in South Korea. The 1998 Summer Olympics was held in Seoul, South Korea.The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony will begin on Friday, February 9 at 8 p.m. (Korean Standard Time). South Korea is 14 hours ahead of New York City (Eastern Standard Time) so that means, if you want to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics live on the East Coast, you’ll need to tune in at 6 a.m. Friday morning and catch a little bit of the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies before you head out for work.Closing ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be on Sunday, February 25. If you’re wondering what the official mascot is for the 2018 Winter Olympics, it is a white tiger named Soohorang. According to the Olympic website, the white tiger is “closely associated with Korean mythology and culture” and is recognized as a symbol of “symbol of trust, strength and protection.”The 2018 Winter Olympics games will begin on Saturday, February 10. Some of the medal competitions scheduled for Saturday are women’s speed Skating, men’s ski jumping and women’s biathlon. There are also a few qualifying events scheduled on February 8 -9, but the official start of medal competitions begin on February 10.The complete Pyeongchang Winter Olympics schedule can be found on the official 2018 Winter Olympics website.Aside from the usual Winter Olympics events such as skiing, bobsledding and figure skating, four new events have been added to the program.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added big air snowboarding, freestyle skiing, mass start speed skating and mixed doubles curling have been added to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.According to the IOC, the events were added based on “added value; youth appeal; attractiveness for TV, media and the general public; gender equality; minimum impact on the number of events and/or quotas; and infrastructure and operational cost and complexity.” Overall, the IOC wants to make the 2018 Winter Olympics a more enjoyable experience for viewers.  So, what do the 2018 Winter Olympics medals look like?According to Lee Suk-woo, the selected medal designer for this year’s Winter Olympics the medals are representative of his homeland, Korea and are “a celebration and a lifetime of hard work and dedication for all the athletes who will receive and cherish them.”The 2018 Winter Olympics will be broadcast live across all time zones, giving viewers the opportunity to watch all of the events live from Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was a big issue during NBC’s coverage of last year’s Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. There was a mix of live broadcasts/streaming mixed in with tape-delayed broadcasts which caused confusion and spoiled event results for a lot of people.When it comes to watching major events online, there are people out there who figure out how to get around paying for a TV subscription. Services such as Sling TV offer free trials of their services, but it will only be available for seven days. If you're looking to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics online for free, all you need to do is search online and you'll find a handful of sites offering links to watch online. You can find live streaming links on YouTube, Facebook, UStream or Periscope but it's not guaranteed those links will remain active for long. The symbolic release of pigeons has recently been adapted after a number of birds were accidentally incinerated when the Olympic torch was lit in the opening ceremony of the Seoul games.Following the unfortunate demise of several pigeons sitting on the edge of the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Seoul Games, this part of the protocol was modified, but not eliminated," reads section four the IOC's guide to opening ceremonies.Today, the symbolic release of pigeons follows the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.Once the national anthems been played, the show begins. Usually, the content is kept secret until the last minute.The opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi adopted a historical theme, portraying Russian achievements such as industrialisation, space exploration and the foundation of St. Petersburg, and celebrating great authors and composers, all seen – in 13 distinct parts – through the eyes and dreams of a young girl named Lyubov (which means “love” in Russian)."South Korea tapped into some of the best of its past and future in an effort to flare up the public's lacklustre interests in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.The Olympics torch arrived in Seoul on Saturday for a four-day relay throughout the capital city.The torch first started to travel on a royal carriage used by kings during Korea's last kingdom of Joseon (1392-1910), carried by the head of the royal family acting as Korea's most revered King Sejong, from the main Gyeongbok Palace to the iconic Gwanghwamun Square.At the last leg of the relay on Saturday, the torch was put on a drone and flew over the sky.The live footage of the torch relay was transmitted and shown on screens in the square through South Korea's indigenous 5G technology.But to the disappointment of the organisers, the well-choreographed event, also joined by high-profile politicians and K-pop signers, failed to bring people to the streets with many parts of the square remaining quite empty until the end of the relay.The rather chilly reception of the torch by the public epitomises the hardship that South Korea has been facing in promoting its first Olympics in 30 years, both domestically and internationally.One relief is that security concerns among foreign athletes and visitors over North Korea's threats were allayed, as the two Koreas held a landmark meeting earlier this week and announced that North Korea will send not only athletes, but also a cheerleading squad, an art troupe, and spectators.While a majority of the public welcomes North Korea's participation in principle (81.2 percent), 49.4 percent say they are opposed to the idea of the two Koreas entering the opening ceremony together under a flag depicting a unified Korean Peninsula, and 52.4 percent say South Korea should not help cash-strapped North Korea in paying for travel expenses, according to a recent poll jointly commissioned by local broadcaster SBS and the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.Furthermore, 72.2 percent say they are against the idea of forming a unified sport team, and 70 percent say the annual joint South Korea-US military exercises, to which North Korea always reacts angrily, should be resumed.The sentiment was quite apparent in the square, as we spoke to people."I think it is unreasonable for South Korea to pay [for North Korea's travel expenses]," Lee Joo-yeon told Al Jazeera "Countries around the world are coming. North Korea should not be an exception.Kim Yeon-joo said that "North Korea's participation might help the Olympics, but not necessarily South Korea", adding that she was concerned that South Korea might end up paying too much for the North Korean delegation.If Pyongyang's recent peace overture was orchestrated to enhance its belligerent image and make South Korea lower its guard, it appears that the North Korean leadership did not realise the shifting attitude of the South Korean public over the past decade.In 2002, North Korea sent its athletes and cheerleaders for the first time to its southern neighbour to take part in the Asian Games.North Korea's national flag was hoisted and its anthem was played out for the first time in South Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean war.I was one of the last generations of students that received strong anti-communist education, which lasted until the end of the 1990s, and demonised the regime and the people in North Korea.Many people in South Korea, including myself, were previously under the impression that North Koreans were wicked goblins with horns on their heads.However, the elite squad of well-trained and good-looking female cheerleaders with enthralling charms sent a cultural shockwave across South Korea, destroying the deeply rooted stereotype.

Even, some of North Korea's pop music became big hits in South Korea.Many began to understand that people living across the border were, after all, humans and the same Korean people.Of course, there were awkward moments that reaffirmed political and ideological differences between the two Koreas.During the Universiade Games in Daegu in 2003, a bus carrying North Korean cheerleaders suddenly stopped on a highway. The cheerleaders, some of them with tears in their eyes, rushed to a welcome placard, placed on utility poles, with a picture of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il shaking hands with late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at the first 2010 inter-Korean summit.The cheerleaders screamed, asking how a dear leader's picture could be left alone on in the middle of streets without due respects, and took the placard down.Today, a string of nuclear and long-range missile tests, since 2006, including last year's H-bomb test and ICBM tests and Kim Jong-un's ruthless style of leadership have made South Koreans cool-hearted over inter-Korean relations.South Korea's new liberal, pro-engagement president, Moon Jae-in, who came into office last May after nine years of conservative governments, seems to understand well that even with his exceptionally high and steadfast approval rating over 70 percent, he needs to take his liberal approach slowly and cautiously, when it comes to North Korea.North Korea agreed Monday to send a 140-member orchestra to South Korea during next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics and hold concerts in Seoul and a sub-host city of the games.The North's tentatively-named Samjiyon Orchestra will perform in the capital and Gangneung, 240 kilometers east of Seoul, South Korea's unification ministry said after inter-Korean talks on the North's plan to dispatch an art troupe to the South. Gangneung will host ice sports during the Winter Games.The two sides plan to discuss details including the venue, stage conditions and other matters through consultations," a joint statement said. "In this regard, the North will send an advanced team at an early date. A ministry official said that the North has requested the use of a land route across the border at the truce village of Panmunjom. The South agreed to guarantee safety and convenience for the North's art troupe.It would be North Koreans' first performance in the South since 2002, when Pyongyang sent a cohort of 30 singers and dancers from several music and performance groups to Seoul for a joint event.Monday's meeting was a follow-up to last week's high-level talks during which North Korea agreed to send a delegation of athletes, ranking officials, an art troupe and others, to the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Olympics in the South.The move comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare offer of rapprochement to Seoul in his New Year's speech following a series of nuclear and missile test. "We believe that a great symphony will be enthusiastically received. In that sense, we hope that the talks could go smoothly so as to help our art troupe perform well in the South," Kwon Hyok-bong, the North's chief delegate, said at the start of the meeting.South Korea's four-member delegation was led by Lee Woo-sung, a senior official at the Seoul's culture ministry.Kwon is the former head of the North's Unhasu Orchestra and current director of the performing arts bureau at the culture ministry. Its delegation also includes Hyon Song-wol, the leader of the all-female Moranbong Band.The Moranbong Band was established in July 2012 by the North's leader Kim Jong-un, featuring Western-style music and outfits.The band is known for their performances of the totalitarian state's propaganda songs, as well as Western pop music, including the theme song of the film "Rocky.Experts said that North Korea could use music performances to soften its image under international sanctions that were imposed over the North's nuclear and missile provocations.On Sunday, the North condemned President Moon Jae-in for crediting U.S. President Donald Trump for helping open up inter-Korean talks.In a thinly veiled threat, North Korea also said that it can roll back its decision to join the Olympics, saying, "They should know that the train and bus carrying our delegation to the Olympics are still in Pyongyang.The Koreas also agreed to hold working-level talks on the North's participation in the games on Wednesday. Seoul proposed the talks on Monday, but the North instead wanted to hold a meeting on the art troupe.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to hold a meeting with officials from the two Koreas on Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss details of the North's participation.Last week, the South proposed the Koreas' athletes marching together at the opening ceremony, which the North is said to be "positively" considering. Seoul also proposed assembling a joint women's hockey team for the Olympics. The IOC is reviewing the idea.The two sides are expected to discuss the North Koreans' travel route, accommodations and other logistics. Seoul said that it agrees to provide necessary support for the North's delegation.The first Winter Olympics ever held in South Korea will kick off in PyeongChang on February 9, 2018. Spectators at the open-air PyeongChang Olympic Stadium will likely brave extreme cold temps and bitter winds, but they're in for a treat. Both ticket holders and fans at home will catch a traditional ceremony, albeit with a few surprise twists.Here's everything you need to know about this year's opening rites:When does it start?The entire show is expected to last about two hours, so settle in.If you want to get a jump on the action, competition is actually scheduled to start the day before. The first rounds of curling and ski jumping will take place on February 8.Where will it air?Both the opening and closing ceremonies will take place in Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, which was specifically built for the elaborate performances to the tune of $58 million. The 35,000-person arena won't host any athletic events (or even stay standing after the games), but it's already attracting criticism for its design.The open roof — a choice made to save costs and speed construction — could expose competitors, world leaders, and fans to extreme cold. An internal organizing committee document predicted the potential real-feel temperature to be 7 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the coldest Olympics to date.A recent concert held in the venue led to six reported cases of hypothermia, so organizers are already planning stopgap measures to keep everyone warm, including distributing hot packs and blankets.Just like the Rio Olympics, the parade is organized by the language of the host country, except for Greece, which leads, and the host country, which goes last.A note on the "symbolic" doves as well: The Olympics hasn't used live doves since the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, when a group of birds met an unfortunate fate in the Olympic cauldron. Other potential mishaps could occur too. Sochi's most memorable moment included a giant Olympic ring that failed to illuminate and expand on cue.What will Team USA wear?As the official outfitter, iconic American brand Ralph Lauren is charged with creating patriotic ensembles for the U.S. delegation. This year, athletes will step out in both parkas and bomber jackets, each outfitted with heating systems that last up to 11 hours.Underneath, competitors will stay stylish wearing slim jeans and wool sweaters. Navy hats and bandanas, suede gloves, and mountaineering boots complete the look.Who's hosting?Katie Couric and Mike Tirico will share hosting duties, NBC revealed. Couric previously worked on the opening ceremonies for the Sydney, Salt Lake City, and Athens Games, so she's no stranger to the event. The decision comes in the wake of Matt Lauer's ousting from the network following a series of sexual harassment allegations. Lauer had co-hosted the opening ceremony in Rio with Meredith Vieira back in 2016.Will Russian and North Korean athletes participate?Russia received plenty of sanctions for systematic doping during the Sochi Olympics, and some of them will be on full display during the opening ceremony. Approved Russian athletes will compete under the Olympic flag as the team "Olympic Athletes from Russia." The International Olympic Committee also placed restrictions on their uniforms, meaning the athletes will likely wear a subdued outfit featuring the Olympic rings.Following diplomatic talks last week, North and South Korea also just announced that the two countries will march together under one flag like they did at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.The delegations have walked separately at the 2010, 2012, and 2016 Olympics. North Korea did not compete in Sochi in 2014. The two countries will also field a joint women's ice hockey team.Pyeongchang's freezing temperatures got nothing on Team USA, thanks to an opening ceremony uniform with a built-in heating component! Ralph Lauren just unveiled the wearable (and patriotic!) piece of technology that U.S. athletes will rock for the 2018 Winter Olympics' opening ceremony, which is just a few weeks away.Tucked within a red, white and blue parka and bomber jacket, the adjustable heaters are made from heat-conducting inks printed in the shape of an American flag. The flags are bonded to the jacket's interior and connected to a battery pack, which will keep Team USA members warm for up to 11 hours.Modeled by snowboarder Jamie Anderson and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, the uniforms also include a wool sweater and jeans with moto-inspired seaming. As for accessories, Ralph Lauren designed a navy wool beanie, leather belt, brown suede gloves with fringe and hand-beading and a pair of matching boots with red laces. In November, Team USA's closing ceremony uniforms were unveiled. Items from the Polo Ralph Lauren Team USA Collection will be available online at RalphLauren.com and TeamUSAShop.com as well as in select Ralph Lauren stores. And for every post liked on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using #HeatTheWayForTeamUSA from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24, Ralph Lauren will donate $1 to the USOC, up to $100,000.Ralph Lauren is bringing new meaning to the idea of warming up for the Winter Olympics: His Team USA Olympic and Paralympic athletes' uniforms, embedded with wearable heating technology, will actually warm them up.Because who knows how cold it might get at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in Korea — maybe 10 degrees or even lower? No problem.USA TODAY got an exclusive look at the patriotic togs that America's Olympians will be wearing when they parade into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 9: Red-white-and-blue down parkas equipped with a button on a slender battery pack inside that the athletes can push to get an instant and long-lasting jolt of toasty warmth.Call it the coolest heating system ever, says a proud David Lauren, son of Ralph and chief innovation officer for Ralph Lauren Corp., chief outfitter for the U.S. Olympic Committee since 2008.It's the most technologically advanced jacket ever produced," Lauren says. "There have been heatable blankets for kids before but they have wires. This is a fabric with ink that heats up — it's weightless, it's conductive and it's immediate.The electronic-printed inks, printed in the shape of an American flag in carbon and silver and bonded to the interior of the jackets, are flexible and stretchable. The parkas are water-repellent. The athletes can set the temperature (there are three settings) via their cellphones. The heat can last up to five hours on the high setting and 11 hours on the low setting, fully charged.And the heat button is big enough to be used with gloves, which is crucial because the Opening Ceremony uniform includes large brown suede explorer gloves with fringe and hand beading.We're using mobile technology so it's literally wired but with no wires," Lauren says. The heating system is embedded in "an American flag inside the jacket, only the athletes will see it, so the American flag will heat the jacket — it's a symbolic ode to our flag.It's also a symbolic ode to Ralph Lauren's design philosophy, intense patriotism and love of the Olympics.  Besides the parka and the rhinestone-cowboy gloves (Ralph Lauren has long been influenced by western-wear looks), the Opening Ceremony uniform includes a slim jean with moto-inspired seaming, a patriotic intarsia-knit wool sweater, a navy wool ski hat, a USA-themed classic navy bandanna, a leather belt and brown suede mountaineering boots with red laces.The hat, by the way, can be customized, a first, Lauren says. You can put the name of your favorite athlete or even your mother's name on it. The Polo Ralph Lauren Team USA collection is available in limited editions in select Ralph Lauren retail stores and at RalphLauren.com and TeamUSAShop.com, with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for the U.S. Olympic team. A variety of similar items with heating technology will be offered in the fall, Lauren says. As always, David Lauren says, the aim for Ralph Lauren's Olympic uniforms is to create a look that "reflects the DNA of America" as a country always moving forward, always innovating, with a strong sense of its heritage inspiring the future.So you see vintage-inspired southwestern gloves adding to an eclectic look of a jacket that is the cutting edge of modernity," Lauren says. "You're taking jeans, which are an American staple and a sign of American style around the world, and giving it a cutting edge of new fabrics and flexibility. You're taking a classic and making it modern and that is what Ralph Lauren is about.Lauren said the heating technology was developed exclusively for Ralph Lauren and grew out of the success of the jacket that gold-medal-laden swimmer Michael Phelps wore when he carried the flag at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The USA on the back lit up, acting as "a beacon" for the team, Lauren says.It got an overwhelming response, we got calls from celebrities and people across the country asking how do I get a light-up jacket — it was a social-media phenomenon," Lauren says. This year, the aim was to combine symbolism with function.Our goal was to make Team USA feel comfortable and excited on the global stage, where they could feel confident and secure and ready to compete," Lauren says.

Jessica Alba, David Lauren, and sister Dylan LaurenToday, Polo Ralph Lauren unveiled the uniforms that Team USA will be sporting to the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 9—and they are peak Americana.Designed in a color palette of red, white, and blue, the uniforms feature modern, tech-enhanced performances pieces punctuated by classic folk references: slim-fit moto jeans, fringed cowboy gloves, a tricolor wool knit sweater, a navy bandana, and brown suede mountaineering boots with red laces.At Ralph Lauren we’re always trying to celebrate the American spirit, but we also want to have a point of view. The red, white, and blue sensibility is something we believe in, but we also wanted to reinvent that sensibility for the modern spirit of today’s athletes,” the six-time official outfitter of Team USA told InStyle in an email.They did so in part by embracing wearable technology, embedding the athletes' limited-edition down parkas with an interior heating system made of conductive carbon and silver ink and printed in the design of an American flag.“Beyond adding extra warmth, the technology added a modernity to the iconic style of the Olympic outfits,” the company said, explaining that the battery-powered tech, which offers three heat settings and lasts up to 11 hours, is meant “to keep [the athletes] warm, to keep their muscles limber, to make sure they didn’t tighten up before the challenges of the next day and the following two weeks.Engineered and manufactured in the United States, the uniforms were created using fabrics sourced from local vendors, in keeping with the project’s Made in America approach.Keep scrolling to see the uniforms modeled by Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy and Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson—plus more of Polo Ralph Lauren’s official sketches of the opening ceremony looks.Ralph Lauren, the longtime outfitter of the U.S. Olympic team, took the wraps off the 2018 opening ceremony parade uniforms Monday, revealing that American athletes will be entering the stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea, bundled up in heavy-duty, down-filled red, white and blue parkas layered over patriotic intarsia knit sweaters and paired with slim-fitting jeans with moto-inspired side seam details.Finishing off the cold-weather kit will be brown suede mountaineering boots (with red laces adding a patriotic pop of color), fringed and hand-beaded brown suede explorer gloves, a navy blue bandanna at the neck and a navy blue wool ski hat with "USA" in white letters across the front.Monday's announcement, which noted that the uniforms were made in the U.S., highlighted a high-tech heating feature that's hidden inside the parkas — as well as the closing ceremony bomber jackets unveiled back in November. There are electronic printed conductive inks bonded to the interior of the jacket that connect to a battery pack and provide up to 11 hours of heat. In a patriotic flourish, the carbon and silver inks are printed in the shape of the American flag, which means Old Glory will be keeping each and every member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams warm and toasty through their respective opening ceremonies.While athletes will be able to control the jacket's heat via settings on the battery pack, Ralph Lauren is giving fans of the brand — and the Olympics — a chance to crank up the heat on social media for the next few days. According to the company, for every post liked and tagged with #HeatTheWayForTeamUSA on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook until Wednesday, $1 will be donated to the United States Olympic Committee, up to a maximum of $100,000.The 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which are set to kick off on Feb. 9, mark the sixth time Ralph Lauren has been the official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams.Temperatures may be below freezing when Team USA arrives in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics in February, but participating athletes will be nice and warm inside their uniforms, thanks to some fashionable heat technology added to their parkas and bomber jackets.Sketches and photos of the Team USA uniforms, by American designer Ralph Lauren, were released on Monday. The full collection includes wool hats, scarves, moto-inspired slim-cut jeans, intarsia-knit wool sweaters, and brown suede gloves. Brown suede mountain boots with red laces completes the look.Most exciting, though are the red, white and blue winter coats and jackets designed with an innovative heating device on the lapel. The wearable heater is made out of carbon and silver ink printed and bonded on an American flag patch. Operated by slim batteries, the device’s temperatures range from high to low heat settings, which athletes can manage on their cell phones. The heater, which dies out after five hours on the highest setting, can last up to 11 hours at the lowest.It's the most technologically advanced jacket ever produced," David Lauren, Ralph Lauren Corp's chief innovation officer, and the son of Ralph Lauren, told USA Today on Monday. "There have been heatable blankets for kids before but they have wires. This is a fabric with ink that heats up—it's weightless, it's conductive and it's immediate.Team USA will sport the heated parkas during the Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony, switching to their heated bombers for closing events.The partnership between Lauren and Team USA marks the sixth time Polo Ralph Lauren has designed for the USA Olympics and Paralympics. The 2018 Pyeongchang outfits were made in the U.S., just like those donned by Team USA in 2016.In addition to keeping Team USA warm during the games, Lauren is using the uniforms to encourage charity. For every social media post that uses the hashtag #HeatTheWayForTeamUSA and receives a like, the fashion giant will donate $1 to the U.S. Olympic Committee.Although the temperatures may be well-below freezing when athletes head to Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony this February, Team USA will be beating the elements with uniforms that will literally bring the heat.Polo Ralph Lauren, the official outfitter for the 2018 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams, debuted Team USA's opening ceremony looks today, ensembles that lean heavily on Americana style while utilizing a unique wearable and immediate heat concept that will keep athletes warm for up to 11 hours.In a statement to TIME from Polo Ralph Lauren, the brand was excited to bring both "fashion and function." The exclusive heating concept consists of electronic printed conducive inks that make up an American flag in carbon and silver ink on the backs of all the teams' red, white, and blue parka jackets that are then heated by a separate battery pack, which makes the jacket not only flexible but water-repellant than if the heating system was made of wires — something that's typically been used in things like heated blankets.Besides the heated parkas, Team USA will also be wearing red, white, and blue knit sweaters, all-American blue jeans, brown mountain boots with red laces, navy bandanas and beanie caps, and topped off with a pair of fringed suede gloves to really tie in the Americana theme.David Lauren, chief innovation officer at Polo Ralph Lauren, said that the look "celebrates the American spirit, with iconic pieces updated with modern details and technical fabrications.See Team USA athletes Jamie Anderson and Gus Kenworthy in the Opening Ceremony looks and the original sketches of the designs, above.Although the 2018 Winter Olympics have not yet started in South Korea, they may already have delivered an unexpected geopolitical dividend. The recent mini-rapprochement between North Korea and the South has thawed ties, and the key question now is whether this will be sustained and significant.Pyongyang confirmed earlier this month that it will send athletes and cheerleaders to the Games in PyeongChang, starting on February 9, after the nation’s first high-level, bilateral talks with Seoul in two years. The latter said that it will temporarily lift sanctions to allow the former to attend the Olympics.The unexpected bilateral warming began with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s New Year message that the Olympics would be a “good opportunity to show unity of the people”. He also spoke of potentially melting “frozen North-South relations”, and since then, the two nations have re-opened a diplomatic hotline, and the Trump team has also consented to suspend joint military drills previously scheduled to coincide with next month’s Games.Should the Olympics ultimately help contribute to a sustained thaw in relations in coming months, it would prove a surprise very few anticipated even in December. Only then, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had painted a bleaker scenario after months of rising tensions in the peninsular: That security challenges from North Korea meant that it was an “open question” whether US athletes would be able to compete at next month’s Games because of the problem “of how we protect US citizens in the area.The shifting sands of January underlines that while hosting such major sporting contests often still commands significant national prestige, they have considerable unpredictability with several such recent events having been plagued by political and wider risks and controversies. Take the example of the most recent Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016. When Rio won in 2009 the right to host the Games, the national economy was booming and the country was enjoying significantly enhanced international prestige as a leading emerging market within the so-called Brics group of nations. By 2016, however, Brazil was mired in political crisis surrounding the impeachment of president Dilma Roussef, and the worst recession in decades, which forced significant spending cuts to the Olympic budget.This difficult backdrop for hosting the Olympics was worsened when more than 100 prominent doctors and professors wrote an open letter to the World Health Organisation asking for the Games to be postponed or moved from Brazil “in the name of public health”. This was in light of the widening Zika outbreak, which became the worst health crisis facing Brazil since at least 1918, according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a leading health research institution based in Rio.The problems associated with staging the Olympics were also exemplified by the Summer Games in Athens in 2004, which occurred just before Greece’s slide into economic turmoil. Those Games, at that stage the most expensive Olympics ever, are estimated to have cost around $12 billion (Dh44.13 billion), but only generated about $3 billion in income.Athens 2004 became a symbol for the period of profligate public spending and unsustainable borrowing in the country at the turn of the millennium, and within days of the Olympic closing ceremony, the Greek government warned Brussels that the nation’s public debt and deficit would be significantly worse than anticipated. In 2005, the country became the first Eurozone country to be placed under fiscal monitoring by European Union authorities.Whether the 2018 Winter Games can command a more positive narrative and stronger legacy remains in the balance some two weeks before the opening ceremony. In part, this is because while ties between North and South Korea are at least temporarily warmer, tensions between Pyongyang and Washington remain high.This month, for instance, saw the spectacle of United States President Donald Trump remarking that the size of his “nuclear button” is bigger and more powerful than Kim’s in North Korea. The latter had earlier made the unwise boast, following recent missile and nuclear tests, that “the entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office.With the US homeland looking increasingly vulnerable, and the prospect of further North Korean missile and nuclear tests in 2018, Trump and some key allies in the region, including Japan, want to intensify international pressure on Pyongyang, which may lead to new spikes in tensions. Aside from the possibility of military force, scenarios include further sanctions, and the possibility of a naval blockade to enforce existing sanctions — including interdicting ships suspected of selling North Korea weapons abroad, one of the regime’s key sources of income.This backdrop underlines the fragility of the unexpected window of opportunity that has opened up. Securing a significant and sustained de-escalation in tensions on the peninsula will not be easy, even with a previously unanticipated Olympic dividend.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting Feb. 9 at a site near the venue of the opening ceremony for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, Japanese government sources have said.The summit will precede the opening ceremony, which is scheduled to be held on the same day, the sources said Friday.At the meeting, Abe is expected to call on South Korea to observe the December 2015 agreement the two nations signed to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the issue of the “comfort women,” mainly Koreans, who were forced into prostitution for Japanese troops before and during World War II, the sources said.Abe also hopes to confirm with Moon their policy of continuing to apply pressure to reclusive North Korea to halt its nuclear arms and missile programs, according to the sources.Moon has said the 2015 accord, signed by the administration of his impeached predecessor Park Geun-hye, is seriously flawed. He has also frozen the ¥1 billion provided by the Japanese government to a South Korean foundation set up to support the victims under the pact.At a meeting in the Diet Friday, Abe stressed that the accord serves as an essential foundation for future-oriented relations between Japan and South Korea. He also indicated that Tokyo cannot accept any demand by South Korea for follow-up measures on the issue.Abe will directly convey these stances to Moon at the meeting, the sources said.Abe will attend the Pyeongchang opening ceremony to encourage Japanese athletes at the games.It will be the first time Abe has visited South Korea since November 2015, when he attended a trilateral summit in Seoul with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Park, who was South Korea’s president at the time but later felled by a corruption scandal.Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, announced on Jan. 17 that North and South Korea will participate together in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games as a joint team under a joint flag, according to BBC.This announcement is not the first of its kind. The two countries previously marched together in Olympic opening ceremonies nine times in the past, most recently in the the Asian Winter Games in 2007, according to The New York Times.South Korea has been advocating for the use of sporting events as a means to thaw the political tension between the two countries since the 1960s, according to the New York Times.North Korea has used sports as symbolic gestures of reconciliation in the past, as evidenced by their previous experiences participating with South Korea, according to The Washington Post.Though Bach called the joint team a “milestone in a long journey,” as quoted by BBC, tensions between the nations remain.In addition to marching under the same flag, the two countries have created a unified hockey team with a South Korean coach. North Korea will send 22 athletes to compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, short track speed skating, figure skating and hockey, according to BBC.Some South Korean athletes are disdainful at the prospect of giving up their hard-earned spots for North Korean athletes, according to The New York Times.Prior to the start of the games, the unified team will train at a ski resort in North Korea before traveling to South Korea on Feb. 1, according to The New York Times. Since South Korea will host the games this year in Pyeongchang, North Korea is a de facto part of the host team.North Korean Olympic athletes experience a higher standard of living than the rest of the country’s citizens. Since King Jong-un assumed power in 2011, there has been increased spending on athletic facilities, according to The Washington Post.The gesture stands in sharp contrast to the threats of war between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, South Korea’s greatest ally, according to The New York Times.The question of peace remains unsolved between North and South Korea, which have technically been at war since Korean War ended with an armistice between the powers in 1953, according to The Washington Post.North Korea is readying for a possible military parade on the eve of next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, satellite images show - a move that threatens to derail the warming of relations between the countries.The photographs from private satellite imagery supplier DigitalGlobe were taken this month and reveal weapons and troops assembling at a military training base in eastern Pyongyang, reports the Wall Street Journal.Similar satellite imagery was also posted on the 38 North blog, published by John Hopkins University US-Korea Institute.

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