UN secretary general will attend Games

Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, said Tuesday that he would attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month.

The Games are set to take place from Feb. 9-25 in the South Korean province of Gangwon, and talks are underway to arrange the participation of a North Korean delegation that includes athletes and performers.

“I am ... encouraged by the decision of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in the Republic of Korea,” Guterres said, using the official names of North and South Korea. “I will be there myself in the opening ceremony.”

In his New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed willingness to send a delegation to the Olympics. The peace overture came after months of heightened tensions over the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

North Korea’s participation in the Winter Games was confirmed last week during the first high-level inter-Korean talks in more than two years.

Yonhap