Winter Paralympic Games Begin in South Korea

The opening ceremony took place at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in Gangwon Province

South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared the PyeongChang Paralympic Winter Games officially inaugurated.

The opening ceremony took place at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in Gangwon Province.

This sporting event, considered the greatest of all time, with 570 athletes competing for 49 nations, will run until March 18.

Moon Jae-in praised the PyeongChang Winter Games for setting the stage for a détente in which ‘the denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula is becoming a reality’.

In a speech to a reception just hours before the opening of the Paralympic Games in the Eastern Alpine resort, Moon also asked the participants to enthusiastically welcome North Korea in its first Paralympic Winter Games.

‘South Korea and North Korea agreed to hold a summit in late April and the president of the United States, Trump, promised today to meet with North Korean President Kim Jong-un in May,’ Moon said.

A broad North Korean delegation attended the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, held from 9 to 25 February, comprising 22 athletes, government officials and artists.

The atmosphere of peace created around these Olympic Games could have its climax at the summit of presidents of the two Koreas, scheduled for next April, when they are expected to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and reunification.

The rapprochement between the two parties took place after Kim Jong-un announced at the beginning of the year his willingness to send a delegation from his country to the Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.