Pyongyang could still pull out from the upcoming Winter Olympics, a North Korean media outlet threatened in response to recent “ill-boding” remarks by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Moon’s praise of President Donald Trump in a speech last Wednesday chilled the atmosphere for North-South reconciliation, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“They should know that train and bus carrying our delegation to the Olympics are still in Pyongyang … The South Korean authorities had better ponder over what unfavorable results may be entailed by their impolite behavior,” KCNA said in an English report on its website Sunday.
In his speech, Moon said Trump deserved “big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks,” adding that the ongoing dialogue “could be a resulting work of the U.S.-led sanctions and pressure.”
North and South Korean officials held face-to-face discussions on Tuesday for the first time in more than two years, with another round due later on Monday.
Moon’s attitude “casts doubt as to his intent to improve the North-South ties and build confidence,” the KCNA report said. It also called Moon’s government “a group of pro-U.S. traitors who are only keen on currying favor with their master and keeping their power even at the sacrifice of the Winter Olympics.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself has not yet commented on the matter.
