by: Hailey Parker

The conflict between North and South Korea has been rising to a boil. Tensions between both sides are higher than ever, but somehow, some way, North and South Korea have been approved by the IOC to march and compete together in the 2018 Olympics.

While the IOC will not usually allow a country with human rights violations and wars to compete in the Olympics, and as it is well known, North Korea has violated many human rights. The past 12 months, they have been firing test rockets and South Korea has been planning to do joint military exercises. Yet both teams are willing to set these practices aside to compete in the Olympics. The reasoning behind the decision is unclear, but North and South Korea may be ready to quit the conflicts. The IOC is prepared to allocate spots for sports that the deadlines have already passed. For the first time in Olympic history, the two teams will be unified for a sport: Women's Ice HockeyPresident Bach of the IOC stated that the reason behind all this allocation and sympathy is ¨The Olympic spirit is about respect, dialogue and understanding. The Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 are hopefully opening the door to a brighter future on the Korean peninsula, and inviting the world to join in a celebration of hope.¨. He then continued to say that “The Olympic Games show us what the world could look like, if we were all guided by the Olympic spirit of respect and understanding. This is the Olympic message that will go from PyeongChang to the world.”. As evidenced by Bach´s statement, the IOC hopes that by allowing the Korean countries to participate in the Olympics, then the possibility for forgiveness and reconciliation is bound to follow. The likelihood of an attack on the Olympics is also severely lessened by North and South Korea being allowed to participate. While it´s unclear whether the plan will actually succeed or not, the fact is that North and South Korea will indeed be participating in the 2018 Olympics, and as a team.