The South Korean president has proposed a major delay to annual war games with the US to ease tensions on the Peninsula. Tensions have been high since North Korea stepped up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Image: picture-alliance/MAXPPP
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South Korea President Moon Jae-In on Wednesday proposed delay joint military exercises with the US in a bid to reduce tensions with North Korea ahead of the Winter Olympics.
"I have made such a proposal to the US and the US is now reviewing it," Moon told US broadcaster NBC. "However, it will all depend upon how North Korea will behave."
Opposition parties criticized Moon's proposal to delay the war games, saying it undermines the country's defenses at a tense moment on the Korean Peninsula. In November, North Korea launched its most advanced ballistic missile, raising tensions in the region.
"This amateurish government is risking national security and rattling the South Korea-US alliance," said a spokeswoman of the opposition Liberty Korea party.
The military exercises include the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills conducted annually between South Korea and the US. The military drills generally run from late February to the end of April. The winter games are scheduled to take place just before the drills would start.
South Korea often conducts military exercises with the US. In December, South Korean soldiers and US marines participated in winter training at Mount Hwangbyeong, a venue for the Winter Olympics.Image: picture-alliance/YONHAP
'Help ease tension'
Officials and organizers have described the Pyeongchang winter games as the "peace Olympics" in a bid to underscore the harmonious nature of the sports competition. However, North Korea has yet to announce whether it will send athletes to the games.
But President Moon aimed to reassure observers, participants and attendees, saying North Korea is unlikely to make any provocations during the games due to their apolitical nature.
"Foreign tourists coming for the Pyeongchang Winter Games won't need to worry about security. I don't think North Korea will do anything that may undermine the Olympics," Moon said.
"Everything is now in place and I hope these Olympics will serve as an opportunity to help ease tension with the North."
The truth and myths of the Kim dynasty
The Kim family has ruled North Korea for the last seven decades, with state-run propaganda praising Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un as godlike figures. DW looks at the rulers behind the myths.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
A young leader
Kim Il Sung, the first and "eternal" president of North Korea, took power in 1948 with the support of the Soviet Union. The official calendar in North Korea begins with his birth year, 1912, designating it "Juche 1" after the state's Juche ideology. He was 41 when, as shown here, he signed the 1953 armistice that effectively ended the Korean War.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Hero worship
In the years and decades after the war, Pyongyang's propaganda machine worked hard to weave a mythical narrative around Kim Il Sung. His childhood and the time he spent fighting Japanese troops in the 1930s were embellished to portray him as an unrivaled military and political genius.
At the 1980 party congress, Kim announced he would be succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Ruling to the end
In 1992, Kim Il Sung started writing and publishing his memoirs, entitled "Reminiscences: With the Century." Describing his childhood, the North Korean leader claims that he first joined an anti-Japanese rally at 6 years old and became involved with the independence struggle at 8.
The memoirs remained unfinished at Kim Il Sung's death in 1994.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/JIJI Press
In his father's footsteps
After spending years in the top tiers of the regime, Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death. Kim Jong Il's 16-year rule was marked by famine and economic crisis in an already impoverished country. However, the cult of personality surrounding him and his father, Kim Il Sung, grew even stronger.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/KCNA via Korean News Service
Rising star
Historians outside North Korea believe Kim Jong Il was born in a military camp in eastern Russia, most likely in 1941. However, the leader's official biography claims it happened on the sacred Korean mountain Paektu, exactly 30 years after his father, on April 15, 1942. A North Korean legend says the birth was blessed by a new star and a double rainbow.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Family trouble
Kim Jong Il had three sons and two daughters with three different women. This 1981 photo shows Kim Jong Il sitting besides his son Kim Jong Nam, with his sister-in-law and her two children in the background. Kim Jong Nam was eventually assassinated in 2017.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Grooming a successor
In 2009, Western media reported that Kim Jong Il had picked his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to take over as the head of the regime. The two appeared together at a military parade on 2010, a year before Kim Jong Il passed away.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Yu
Together
According to Pyongyang, the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011 was marked by a series of mysterious events. State media reported that ice snapped loudly at a lake on the Paektu mountain during a sudden snowstorm, with a glowing message appearing on the rocks.
After Kim Jong Il's death, a 22-meter (72-foot) statue of him was erected next to the one of his father (l.) in Pyongyang.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Mysterious past
Kim Jong Un mostly stayed out of the spotlight before his ascent to power. His exact age is disputed, but he is believed to have been born between 1982 and 1984. He was reportedly educated in Switzerland. In 2013, he surprised the world by meeting with former NBA star Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A new cult
Like the leaders before him, Kim Jong Un is hallowed by the state's totalitarian regime. In 2015, South Korean media reported about a new teacher's manual in the North that claimed Kim Jong Un could drive at the age of 3. In 2017, state media said that a monument to the young leader would be build on Mount Paektu.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Kctv
A Kim with a hydrogen bomb
Altough Kim took power at a younger age and with less of a public profile than his father and grandfather, he has managed to maintain his grip on power. The assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong Nam in 2017 served to cement his reputation abroad as a merciless dictator. The North Korean leader has also vastly expanded the country's nuclear arsenal.
