Just when the talks of Vice President Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, had died down they have been sparked up again. U.S. officials have said that a meeting between the United States and North Korean delegations was scheduled to occur at the Winter Olympics. At the last minute though North Korea had a change of heart and pulled out. The question on everybody’s minds now is, will there be a hand shake between Kim Yo-jong and a member of the United States delegation at the Olympics? I believe that this international public relations situation between the two will be rectified at the closing games with the help of Ivanka Trump.
At the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea the United States delegation was seated right in front of the North Korean delegation. American media coverage had all the cameras on Vice President Mike Pence and the Second Lady of the United States Karen Pence. In the camera view over the left shoulder of the Vice President sat Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of North Korean Parliament and Kim Yo Jong.
Initially, after the ceremony news broke that no interaction had occurred between Vice President Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong. After the opening ceremonies the Vice President defended his actions of not acknowledging Kim Yo-jong by saying, "I didn't believe it was proper for the United States of America to give her any attention in that forum." The public had two main responses to the situation. Some people felt that Pence had done the right thing by not interacting with the North Korean delegation or standing to acknowledge their athletes. On the other hand many criticized V.P. Pence for not engaging and extending an olive branch to the North Koreans.
Prior to the opening ceremonies an aid for V.P. Pence had said, “The Vice President will remind the world that everything the North Koreans do at the Olympics is a charade to cover up the fact that they are the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet”. Given this statement I could see why the North Korean delegation would be hesitant to meet Vice President Pence. However, Pence himself did tell reporters that he had not specifically requested a meeting with North Korean leaders while at the Olympics but wasn’t opposed to the idea.
Now, more than a week later it has come out that Vice President Pence was scheduled to meet the North Korean but specifically Kim Yo-jong. This would have been the first interaction that the Trump administration would have had with North Korea. A spokeswoman from the state department confirmed that indeed “when the possibility arose of a brief meeting with the North Korean delegation, Mr Pence was ready to take this opportunity to drive home the necessity of North Korea abandoning its illicit ballistic missile and nuclear programs".
Mr Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers, said North Korea had "dangled a meeting in hopes of the vice president softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics". North Korea has yet to comment on whether what the U.S. has reported about the meeting is to be true. I do not see them making a comment either since they are the ones that look bad because they did not uphold the meeting. The only actions I see the North Koreans taking is to either do nothing and say nothing, or if a time comes at the closing ceremonies have their delegation shake the hand of the United States.
It was announced that Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Trump and White House aide, would be part of the closing ceremony delegation. The announcement came from the White House a few days before the Olympic games started. So this choice in delegation isn’t a result of what occurred between Pance and Kim Yo-jong. The reason why I think Ivanka will shake Kim Yo-jong hand is because it would show that the United States is in support of the dialogue occurring between South Korea and North Korea. Both Pence and Ivanka do indeed represent the United States but individually are different in how they convey their views which could also have played into the non shake. Even though Ivanka is very outspoken and passionate about human rights I think she would still shake hands with Kim Yo-jong.
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