Senator believes the U.S. could boycott 2018 Winter Olympics if North Korea competes

United States Senator Lindsey Graham thinks that if North Korea competes at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the United States will boycott.

As has happened numerous times in the past, the political landscape of the world is now threatening the Olympics.

With the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, set to begin just over a month from now on Feb. 9, the involvement of two major players on the world political stage is still up in the air as tension between the United States and North Korea continues to make headlines.

In a New Year’s speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was “open to dialogue” with South Korea regarding many issues, one of which specifically pertains to North Korea’s involvement in the Winter Olympics.

"“North Korea’s participation in the Winter Games will be a good opportunity to showcase the national pride and we wish the Games will be a success. Officials from the two Koreas may urgently meet to discuss the possibility.”"

Through a spokesperson, South Korean President Moon Jae-In stated that he has always been willing to meet with his neighbors to the north if it means getting closer to peace on the Korean Peninsula. On Tuesday, South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon offered such a meeting for Jan. 9, exactly one month before the Olympics start, at the border village of Panmunjom.

Obviously, the main topic of the discussions would be North Korea’s ambitious nuclear program, which has long been a big source of tension for South Korea and its biggest ally, the United States. However, chances are this is when the discussion of North Korea’s involvement at the Olympics would also come up.

President Moon had extended an invitation to North Korea to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics many months ago, saying that their involvement could help in the process of bringing peace to the region and perhaps prevent terror or missile attacks during the games, which has been a source of concern for the United States in deciding whether or not to send athletes to Pyeongchang.

The likelihood of the United States boycotting the Winter Olympics would seem to be very low given the fact that the U.S. has never missed the Winter Games and has only boycotted one modern Olympics, those being the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, due to political reasons.

However, if an agreement can be reached that would send North Korea to Pyeongchang — North Korea chose to skip the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul — at least one person believes that the United States will skip the games Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) took to Twitter on Tuesday to comment on the ongoing situation.

"“Allowing Kim Jong Un’s North Korea to participate in #WinterOlympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet.”“I’m confident South Korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if North Korea goes to the Winter Olympics, we do not.”"

There are many that believe that Kim Jong Un’s offer to talk ahead of the Olympic Games is simply an attempt to divide South Korea and the United States, who are discussing the possibility of postponing their annual military drills, which North Korea has long seen as a threat, until after the Olympics. That may turn out to be a problem with reports coming out that North Korea may be planning to launch their first missile of 2018 in the next few days.

The same speech in which Kim Jong Un offered to talk about the possibility of being at the Olympics also included talk of producing more nuclear warheads and missiles capable of hitting the entire United States, which could be why Sen. Graham and so many others are cautious of Kim’s intentions and sincerity.

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We won’t know exactly how this will play out until the two Koreas meet but in one writer’s humble opinion, I think it would be a shame for the United States to deprive its athletes of representing their country at the 2018 Winter Olympics no matter what the outcome. These are men and women that have worked for years to get to this stage and watching all of that hard work get wasted would be a travesty, regardless of the political situation that none of these athletes can control.

Stay tuned.