Cedars, March 2018

March 2018 10 ANALYSIS The Games Within the Games: International Politics and the Olympics by Breanna Beers T he Olympics may be over, but the po- litical games are just beginning. The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics were fraught with international maneuvering, from the conspicuous absence of the Rus- sian colors to the high-profile participation of North Korean athletes alongside their South Korean hosts. The image of athletes from both North and South Korea marching as a unified team under a single flag has quickly become a fa- mous one, leading many to wonder if peace talks may be soon to follow. Despite inter- national sanctions, North Korea has contin- ued the development and testing of short- and long-range ballistic missiles as well as nuclear weapons, with more tests in 2017 than any previous year. International studies professor Dr. Glen Duerr pointed out that this makes their ap- parently sudden interest in diplomacy during the Olympics all the more intriguing. “With these recent nuclear tests and improvements in ballistic missiles, it’s come at a time when North Korea is facing pres- sure from the outside,” Duerr said. “But I think there’s also an internal pressure. A lot of jump drives are getting into North Korea. They’re showing Gangnam Style; they’re showing Korean soaps; they’re inadvertent- ly showing the wealth of South Korea. So, North Korea picked up the phone between the two Koreas. It is an opportunity to, at least during the Olympics, put on a different face for North Korea.” In hosting the Olympics, South Korea was able to cement its place in the world, moving past the traumatic aftermath of the Korean War to display its current power as a free people with the 11th largest economy in the world. By standing with its rival in South Korea’s moment of triumph, North Korea was able to claim a significant pub- lic relations victory among the international community — especially, according to Du- err, the American news media. “The North Korean cheerleaders, Kim Jong Un’s sister — these have been a bit of a charm offensive for North Korea,” said Du- err. “It presents a level of normalcy to see her in a box with [South Korean President] Moon Jae-in and the vice president [Pence].” History and law professor Dr. Marc Clau- son commented on how this “charm offen- sive” took an especially prominent place in the American coverage of the Olympic Games. “She’s become sort of a star in the news media, just by being there,” Clauson said. “If [Kim Jong-un] had been there, it wouldn’t have been so nice. But she’s his sister, and she seems to be peaceful, and she’s talking peacefully — it gives the news media what they want. It’s a good PR move.” However, Clauson was skeptical about whether the apparent truce will continue. “I think it’s a fake peace,” Clauson said. “It’s always been a fake peace. They try to appease as much as they can and make it look good, make it look peaceful, but it’s just papering over what’s really there. And I think that tension is never going to go away until North Korea’s regime changes.” Similarly, Duerr said that he expects little to change in North Korea without the removal of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. However, he said, better for them to engage in diplomatic talks than to withdraw again into uneasy silence. “While I think it’s more posturing, there’s the potential for peace,” said Duerr. “But North Korea is so insulated, the regime is so tightly wound, that it’s going to be diffi- cult to see a shift anytime soon. I have a fear that my children’s generation will look at us one day and say ‘What were you doing, in the midst of a 21st century holocaust?’” Shortly after the closing of the Olympic Games, South Korean president Moon Jae-in announced that a delegation of South Korean envoys will soon be traveling to North Korea to discuss future relations between the two countries. In March, President Trump also accepted an invitation from North Korea to meet for negotiations regarding North Ko- rea’s nuclear program. Yet, as Duerr pointed out, similar delegations have gone before to return with few actual gains. “North Korea has to do more, and I think a lot more, for me to be convinced,” Duerr said. “But it’s a nice step for Moon Jae-in to come in. And we’re still dealing with human beings, human beings that may go for a deal, that may look for something, and so I think that’s at least possible.” While the Olympics gave North Korea the chance to gain favor in the eyes of the international community, Russia received a public shaming from the International Olym- pic Committee (IOC). Due to the repeated use of performance-enhancing drugs by Russian athletes during several previous Olympics, no official Russian team was permitted to compete in Pyeongchang. While Russian ath- letes were still allowed to participate under the nondescript red-and-white flag declar- ing them ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia,’ the Russian flag was not flown, Russian colors could not be worn, the Russian anthem was Photo by Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Alina Zagitova, gold medalist in the women’s figure skating of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games with the Order of Friendship pose for a photo during an awarding ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 28.