Peace at a cost of $2.64 mn: South Korea allocates huge amount to pay for North’s Olympics bills

NewsBharati    16-Feb-2018
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Seoul, February 16: To resolve the North Korean conflict and bring peace in Korean Peninsula, South Korea is paying a huge amount. It has allotted US$2.64 million to pay the Olympic bills for Pyongyang. The cost will cover the costs of hundreds of North Korean art performers, cheerleaders and taekwondo demonstration team members.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in has always believed in the policy of more engagement with North Korea to resolve the conflict in Korean Peninsula. The Olympics for “peace” has dominated South’s notion of North Korean participation. North Korean leader Kim Jon Un’s influential sister even delivered Kim’s invitation to Moon for a talk in Pyongyang.

"It is aimed at providing financial support for the North Korean delegation's visit to South Korea and for carrying out cultural cooperation projects (between the North and South)," the Unification Ministry of South Korea said.

"The North Korean delegation's participation in various forms is serving as a pretty good opportunity to (achieve) Seoul's goal to hold an Olympics of peace and becoming an important chance for harmony that improves the inter-Korean relationship and opens up the door for peace on the Korean Peninsula," Country’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said.

However, South has made it clear that it is keeping United Nations sanctions and other international norms in mind as it hosts North Korea's Olympic participation. South Korea knows it might attract criticism over the allocation of the fund.