Global Geopolitical Series: U.S. to look for negotiating opportunities at Peace Olympic with North Korea as Pence to lead delegations

After North and South Korea successfully concluded the first round of high-level talks between the two nations earlier this week in more than two years that resulted in North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics next month to be held at Seoul, the United States will be looking for opportunities to engage with the officials of the isolated nation. After meeting with their Southern counterparts, North Korean officials have declared that they would be sending a participating team in the Olympics along with a high-level delegation, which should present another opportunity for talks.

The U.S. administration, despite the heated exchange of words and insults between President Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Un, the United States seems very keen to get to the negotiating table. After the meeting with South Korean officials, North Korean leader of the delegation said that his country’s weapons are not aimed at Southern brethren, China or Russia but the United States. However, that didn’t prevent U.S. diplomatic officials from hailing the breakthrough and expressing wishes to engage in future rounds of talks.

To engage is probably the reason why the U.S. Vice president Mike Pence, who has already visited the South once, since Trump administration took charge in last January will be leading the U.S. delegations at the Peace Olympic.