How the Olympics Could Help Defuse the North Korea Crisis - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How the Olympics Could Help Defuse the North Korea Crisis

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/ar chive/2018/01/winter-olympic-games-south- korea-opportunity-for-diplomacy-with-north

• korea/549893/

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to inform readers of the current situation of communication between North and South Korea. Authors Carlin and Wit want readers to understand what the South Korean Olympics could bring this year, based on what has happened in the past.

Occasion

The timing of this article is such that it addresses the North Korea crisis at a time when it is a prominent issue in US foreign affairs. Since this article was published at a time when people are aware of the issues surrounding North Korea, it had more

• f an impact on its audience than it would have if the issue had diffused or was no

longer a political issue often discussed by authorities or the general American public.

Historical Context (Parallelism)

• November of 1987, tensions were at a high when two North Korean agents blew up a South Korean airliner,

killing all of the passengers aboard

• However, there were the 1988 summer Olympics held next year, and the United States viewed this as an
• pportunity for potential peace talks.
• The President at the time, Ronald Reagan, wanted a new approach in handling the North Korean regime
• The whole article is basically comparing 1988 to 2018, and how we as a country should try our best to be

involved with these talks, because nuclear war should definitely be the last resort .

• “With this year’s Olympics, history has offered us a chance to try again. If the United States and South

Korea ignore the lesson of 1988, the window will close. When the last athlete turns out the lights and leaves the Olympic village, the opportunity that exists today will vanish.”

Quotes and Strategies From Well Known Figures

• In this article, the author mentions President Donald Trump and the statements he made

recently.

• “ While President Trump’s remarks on Saturday, in which he supported inter-Korean

dialogue and expressed his own willingness to talk to Kim, may indicate recognition of this emerging reality, the administration would do well to follow Ronald Reagan’s example.”

• The author also mentions Ronald Reagan's strategies back in 1988 when the same issues

were occuring.

• “The key to the Reagan strategy was that it did not depend on reciprocal steps by
• Pyongyang. In other words, if the Kim regime merely showed restraint by leaving the

Olympics alone, Washington would encourage unofficial, nongovernmental visits by North Koreans to the United States, ease financial regulations impeding travel to the North by U.S. citizens, permit limited commercial export of humanitarian goods to the North, and allow State Department officers to hold substantive discussions with North Korean diplomats”

• With both of these well known figures mentioned, the reader’s previous knowledge and

connotation pops into their head while reading.