Carlos Barria | Reuters
U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, September 15, 2017.
A senior U.S. official has cast doubt over whether U.S. athletes will able to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea amid heightened tensions with the North.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the prospect of U.S. athletes participating in February was an “open question.”
When asked by Fox News Wednesday night if it was a “done deal” for American athletes to participate in South Korea, Haley replied: “I have not heard anything about that … But I do know in the talks that we have, whether its Jerusalem or its North Korea, it’s always about how we protect U.S. citizens in the area.”
The Winter Olympics are due to be held from February 9-25 in Pyeongchang. The South Korean town is approximately 50 miles from the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the border between the two Koreas.
Geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased substantially in recent months after North Korea’s latest missile and nuclear tests, conducted in defiance of international pressure and UN resolutions.
The hostile situation regarding North Korea is “changing by the day,” Haley said on Fox News, making the security of U.S. athletes somewhat uncertain. However, Haley said President Donald Trump’s administration would try to find the “best way” to ensure the athletes were protected.
On Thursday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry reportedly said large military drills being carried out by the U.S. and South Korea — as well as the threats of pre-emptive war against Pyongyang by the U.S. — have made an outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula an “established fact.”
