In PyeongChang, the countdown indicates this Friday, August 11, 182 days before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games. At this stage in history, the news of the next Olympic event should be sporting, even logistical . Preparation of athletes, construction of sites… This time, it is political. And it makes us fear the worst.
Six months before the event, the verbal escalation between the United States and North Korea maintains a real threat to the Winter Games. On August 5, Pyongyang reacted to the adoption of new international sanctions by the United Nations, at the instigation of the United States, by promising to make the Americans pay “a thousand times over” the price of their crimes. » Donald Trump responded without delay, assuring that “North Korea had better not make any more threats towards the United States. They will encounter fire and fury the world has never seen before. »
Since then, the North Korean regime has announced plans to fire ballistic missiles towards American bases on the island of Guam, in the Pacific.
At the IOC, the situation is not yet considered critical, at least officially. But the Olympic organization made it known, via one of its spokespersons, that it was following the evolution of the crisis very closely. “We are monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region very carefully,” the IOC said. We remain informed of the latest developments. We continue to work with the organizing committee for these PyeongChang 2018 Games, which remains on track to date. »
Same story on the American side. The National Olympic Committee (USOC) is also monitoring calmly, without showing the slightest sign of concern. Scott Blackmun, executive director of the USOC, visited South Korea last week, accompanied by Lisa Baird, director of marketing. But Patrick Sandusky, the communications director, is careful not to establish a cause and effect link. “As with all Games, we are working with the organizing committee and relevant agencies, including the US Department of State, to ensure that the athletes and members of our delegation will be completely safe. »
In the short term, the threat seems distant. But what would happen in the event of open conflict between the United States and North Korea? The PyeongChang Olympic venues are located only about sixty kilometers from the North Korean border. A proximity which reinforces the risk which would weigh on the Games in the event of military escalation. According to The Australian, American intelligence and security agencies have reportedly revised upwards their arrangements for the PyeongChang Games. As a last resort, the State Department could ask athletes not to travel to South Korea.
At the IOC, the official speech is intended to be reassuring. A superficial calm maintained by the very pacifist remarks of the new government in Seoul, still motivated by the political significance of the participation of North Korean athletes in the next Winter Games. But the IOC took precautions. Insurance has been taken out to cover the loss of income from the outright cancellation of an edition of the Games. It provides for compensation of 250 million dollars. Very correct but insufficient. The rest would be drawn from the Olympic Foundation's war chest, estimated at more than 800 million dollars.
One thing is certain: the great idea of a joint team from the two Koreas at the Winter Games is definitively buried. Just like the scenario, brandished in recent weeks by the Seoul government, of relocating one or more events of the Games to neighboring North Korea.
