After the breakneck speed of North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear tests in 2017, the two Koreas marched together in the Winter Olympics in what some analysts lauded as a diplomatic breakthrough.
Why it matters: This will be only a fleeting pause in the ongoing nuclear crisis. The real test will come after the games conclude.
Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Seoul for the Winter Olympics was meant to help patch up the fractious U.S.–South Korea alliance but has only exacerbated the problems.
After 10 weeks in which North Korea has refrained from a missile test and tempered its military exercises, cameras captured Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong smiling and applauding the joint Korean team and shaking hands with South Korean president Moon Jae-in. Meanwhile, Pence was shown staring sullenly ahead while seated just feet in front of Kim, and reportedly arrived late to a VIP dinner where he shook hands with everyone but her.
Michigan State University has begun the process of removing the former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and former boss of Larry Nassar, Dr. William Strampel, reports AP.
Why it matters: Dr. Strampel along with Suresh Mukherji, the chairman of the Department of Radiology at Michigan State who has recently been suspended, led a 2014 Title IX probe that cleared Larry Nassar of sexual assault allegations. Although the school advised Nassar to have a chaperone in the room when treating athlete’s “sensitive areas,” the request was not enforced nor looked into by Strampel.
Vice President Pence, who is leading the U.S. delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics, has called a report that a gay figure skater declined a meeting with him “fake news."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet with Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, and other North Korean officials during a luncheon on Saturday in Pyeongchang, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: Kim Yo Jong is believed to be the first member of the Kim dynasty to visit South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War, and the meeting underscores the effort by both countries to use the Olympics as a means to improve escalating tensions in the region.
