in the end, north korean ships attacked. 82 surviving crewmen would spend the next 11 months in north rim prison camps, getting their release just a few days before christmas. since then has been largely forgotten. number nine, you may not know that the ship should never have left port. johnson would stay after the fact -- say after the fact that the u.s. pueblo was in a satisfactory state of readiness. the reality was quite different and unknown -- no level could this should be considered ready for combat. let's look at a few pictures. this light gives you one of the official many photographs of the uss pueblo. it gives you the idea of one of the most obvious programs. you can see something wrong with this picture. the ship is going backwards. it is going backwards because it can't go forward. the steering engine is broken as it so often was on the uss pueblo. it is probably the most obvious problem area. the first sea trial for the uss pueblo, the steering engines failed leaving the ship floundering in the sea until tugboats could rescue it. on his second trial after the navy insist

the most dangerous threat in the indo-pacific the rogue regime in north korea we will not allow north korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the olympic games we will not allow north korea to hide behind the olympic banner the reality the things flee their people and threaten the wider region and on the eve of the much anticipated display of unity of the winter olympics a show force in killing young a military parade for the seventieth anniversary of the founding of north korea's army came junk on board that soldiers are ready to fight if the u.s. and these are lies but and its sovereignty included in the convoy of weapons were intercontinental ballistic missiles the focus of global alarm frustration and conciliation two thousand and seventeen was a busy year for north korea's missile and nuclear scientists more than twenty missiles were test launched last year suggesting developments in both short and long range rocket technology a new assignment blasted off in november larger and more powerful than and he launched from the north before and capable and honest say of attackin

after this, the men were beaten for a week when the north koreans found out. should we learn about this incident that is relevant to us today? i wish we would take north korea seriously on its own merits. the communist archives has been a great tool for me to see what the other side of the cold war was like. the kim family was never a puppet of the chinese. every time i see an official talking about how china has the answer, the reality is it doesn't. north korea does things for its desiresons, usually by a from the kim family to rally people behind them and prop up their government during a time of internal weakness. you have to see all nations as independent countries that act for their own internal reasons. the united states has looked for easy solutions to north korea for a lot of years while dismissing them as crazy or saying you see stalinism. you need to take them seriously on their own merits. susan: how concerned are you about the situation? mitchell: not as concerned as you might think. a conflict in korea would be so devastating that there is not a r

the north korean officials won't meet with them, they won't talk to them. we think of north korea as a black hole for information for the united states, and it is a black hole of information for their allies as well. susan: so there were 83 cruise onboard? 83 crew on board. one of them tragically killed. it was horrible. if you asked anyone what the most horrible place you can imagine is, north korean prison camp would be at the top of your list. for the first couple of weeks, they were beaten and tortured mercilessly. really primitive stuff. beaten with clubs, forced to sit on radiators. just really terrible things in order to get confessions out of them. north koreans wanted propaganda. they wanted to humiliate the united states so that the kim family wanted to demonstrate to its people how strong they were. the beat these men and tortured them so they would sign confessions saying they were so sorry they had done this. the american government had sent them on this terrible mission and they never wanted to go and were apologizing to the korean people. they

we know north korean intention. t we go along with ally -- well, with north korea, therefore -- >> you stick with your ally, not with north korea? >> of course not. we stick with our ally, but we're hoping that -- we are hoping that north korea would understand reality and the driving wedge would not rk, but north korea should come up with talks with south korea. >> do you think president trump's fire and fury, little rocketman, bigger button than yours, do you think that public rhetoric toward north korea has helped clarify u.s. intentions and let north korea know exactly where the u.s. stands, or has it complicated the issue in the region? >> president trump has been sending rather conflicting signals. on the one hand, his position is tough, but on the other hand, he hints at the possibility of dialogue with north korea. therefore, it is all matter up to how north korea responds to president trump's message. >> you say conflicting, but many people use diplomacy backed by the credible threat of force. that is an int

influence of the north korean economy and the areas. with regard to. national security north korea now the ultimate goal of dialogue that is being pursued right now is that he'll advocate is i imagine total reunification and north and south korea are so vastly different in terms of economy technology perhaps even mentality any reunification will be a huge shop can't say all for that for instance i'm just thinking about you know i'm just thinking about reunification of germany the east germany is germany still behind the west economically after thirty years of being together. you know we have several models of unification one is a german model in which you know south korea kudos' over north korea or vice versa another more than the me small korean you've. come from a major military conflict or you could be consensual unification between north and south our government policy to you know see. our government policy you to see consensual consensual unification therefore we are hoping that you know so sonos sit together and try to find out some peace two ways

north koreans have been seeking a peace treaty with the united states for a long time. united states is wary and rightfully so, because the question is, how much is north korea willing to give up? states andll united other actors have to give up in terms of economic aid and access to international institutions if north korea were to become a of thezed member international community? it is really complicated. host: let's hear from anthony. caller: vicki for taking my call. you fords -- thank taking my call. in regards to what is going on, three weeks ago, when the republicans, in my opinion, topic is--host: our north and south korea relations. caller: i just wanted to say something about the immigration policy. we will have to leave it there. bob from maryland. go ahead. reunification or a peace treaty rather, i want to ask the professor why the two koreas never decided to recognize each other. separate embassies and they should always have the line of medication unpredicted crises between the countries. caller: that is an excellent question. the answer is tragically simp

a north korean soldier defected and came under fire from the north even after he had crossed into the south. and. that was a violation of the korean armistice agreement he was rescued by south korean soldiers and flown don a special he has since recovered from his wounds. while the border between the two koreas is closed the one between the north and china is open . this is the chinese city down and down. and this is the view across the yalu river to north korea the friendship bridge links the two countries and is a major conduit for goods going in both directions. i mean we have a couple sources in downtown as well this is a convoy of trucks going through the chinese customs house just before they cross the friendship bridge but you see the share amount of cob carries you would need an army people to be coming here because the current u.n. sanctions ostensibly to appall it has to be very thorough he says to ensure there's night and materials that may breach sanctions but on a good day you might have two three hundred of these kind of trucks passing the bridge. and each one of them yo

. >> this hatred of americans stems from the korean war. northorea contradicts western historians, saying that america started the war that killed millions of civilians and divided the korean peninsula. >> who do you want to fight? >> translator: to fight the sworn enemy, americans. >> what do they teach you about americans in school? >> translator: they forcibly invaded us, slaughtered our people, buried them, buried them alive. buried them alive and killed them. >> so they teach you that the americans are the enemy, and you need to shoot them, to fight them? >> translator: yes. >> here's where things get awkward. what if i told you i'm an american? do you want to shoot me too? >> transtor: yes. there are good people. we'll see if you're a good person or a bad person. >> i'm a good american, so don't shoot me. >> translator: um, no. i won't shoot. >> this is the paradox of north korea. smiling young people, friendly, polite, even as they tell me how much they hate the united states. from their earliest years, these children are told america coul

knowledge what we are always up north korean nuclear weapons capability but our goal is to to keep the nuclear rods in north korea that was speaking about the sanctions you set yourself that the current very tough sanctions on north korea aren't working since it's such an isolated self-reliant society that is used to hardship so what are the sections for then i mean what do they have and should they be there at all. now government position is very clear that sanctions and precious instrument to bring north korea to dialogue and negotiation table therefore we are not pushing the policy of sense and for the sake of sentence ok therefore it's time for north korea to really think about it one very clearly our government number one priority can dial when negotiating but north korea has not in the going and the attempt to have a dialogue and negotiation with just south korea as well as united states as to why self-hate been joining international efforts to put the sanctions on north korea but if north korea just come back to the dial the negotiation table we may know lose an hour in a senten

room but he did not greet the north korean ceremonial head of state he says it simply because he was not seated near him but it can't be denied that the united states and north korea rebuffed president moon's attempt to facility dialogue between the two of them and says that an olympic venue is not the appropriate venue to have a serious discussion with the north koreans and that if he had spoken to the north koreans he would have conveyed a very strong message earlier this week pence did say that the toughest round of economic sanctions against north korea are coming and that the united states will continue to exert maximum pressure on north korea to denuclearize the north koreans for their part say they have zero interest in any dialogue with the united states the tension one brief final point what's your sense as to who's driving this because up until perhaps six weeks ago the feeling had been if the u.s. talks to north korea it's got to be done through the the vessel of the chinese government and then the north koreans surprised everyone and they basically signal bloke the olympic

thejoint women's hockey team, the north korean players stay ina team, the north korean players stay in a tea m in a different place. there is a team of north korean performers who are coming, they arrive on a ferry, they will get off the ferry, go to they will get off the ferry, go to the performance space, go onto the ferry and stay there and eat there. they will not be with the rest of the people. what the whole 0lympic myth is built around, people really hope that for at least two weeks we can stop fighting with one another and that former enemies can become friends and the like. we will have to wait and see in the coming weeks and into the future if these games to bring a greater dialogue between north and south korea and open up channels of communication which just went there. it looks very frosty where you are in the mountains of pyeongchang. a number of frosty reception by the russians to this decision by the iec today not to allow 15 russians who are cleared of doping allegations to take part in the winter olympics, how is that going down there? —— 10c. the winter olympics, how

states because as this diplomacy was happening, you had vice president mike pence visiting with north koreanctors speaking strongly against north korea and calling it depraved. saying the north korean people were prisoners who yearned for freedom and, of course, he was blasted in north korean media today for doing that. they accused him of violating the olympic spirit. and then at the opening ceremonies that really awkward moment when vice president pence was initially supposed to be sitting directly in front of the north korean delegation. he actually switched seats so thater away. if it was followed, it would have been more ocwould and bizarre than what we saw. if you're somebody in pence's camp right now you can't be happy how this is going down. vice president pence came here to tell the south koreans once the olympic is over, diplomacy should be over. they should join the united states, but, instead, what south korea president moon has done is open to further engagement with the north koreans. tonight, they're going to be having the interkorean women ice hockey game and attending that g

korea the north koreans are saying they have no desire publicly at least to engage in dialogue with the united states. u.s. president trump has called for a ban on stocks that's a device that allows semiautomatic rifle to fire at the rate of a machine gun last week's florida school shooting sparked for a new debate on gun control but gun safety advocates say it's only the bare minimum of what the government should do to prevent mass shootings how does a castro has more. the bomb scot's a deadly threat was witnessed in october when a gunman used them to rain down bullets on a crowd in las vegas killing fifty eight people the call to bamba stocks was swift . but it took until now four months later for president donald trump to take action . after the deadly shooting in las vegas i directed the attorney general to clarify whether certain bob stock devices like the one used in las vegas are illegal under current law that process began in december and just a few moments ago i signed a memorandum directing the att

the north korean regime isa regime own weight.ed, i am on the side of the democracies. we all are. right now, we have to draw it to a close, because we are all keen to watch the bobsleigh and the ice—skating. i have two let you leave to consider your enthusiastic viewing of the winter olympics. that is offer this week. we do hope you canjoin as next week at the same time. thank you for being with us. hello. changeable weather this weekend. rain today for most of us as it's less cold than yesterday but much colder tomorrow, so snow showers are back on the cards. here is the weekend of weather set out in detail. weather system at the moment with outbreaks of rain for england and wales, clearing for a time for scotland and northern ireland, tomorrow a colder day. yes, there will be some sunshine but also some snow showers. here's how it's looking going into the afternoon. some outbreaks of rain becoming confined later to parts of east anglia, south—east england. then dry for a time elsewhere but more rain coming back to northern irel

it's always tricky to predict but according to some figures the north korean economy was estimated to 3.9% in 2016, what do you think was the growth in 2017 and going forward? any time you have a number in north korea it will be problematic to speculate but i would say it would be lower. chinese sanctions have had greater impact and to the extent north korea is engaging in trade, it's having a slightly more difficult time. seoul is perfect, paying for the north korean delegation is in pyeongchang, do you think the games will help the north korean economy by attracting more tourists? that is up to the guarantees north korea makes to china and south korea. not directly. ultimately you could see more willingness to give aid or have investment from china and south korea. indirectly we might see an affect. iran's president is making his first visit to india since he took office in 2013. trade between the two countries is worth almost $13 billion, but president hassan rouhani is hoping to drum up even more new business with india after crippling economic sanctions against his company were e

how worried is japan right now on how south korea is dealing with the north koreans. serious issue forjapan for 20 years and so on. importantly, again, this issue is becoming important, serious, not only for the us, not only forjapan, but also for the us, so the interest of the us and japan, the visit is timely and important. there are reports right now that north korea is planning to hijack the korean winter olympic games through a propaganda campaign. how should this be handled by the japanese and the americans? that is a tricky issue. certainly, you are right. north korea is trying to use this opportunity to showcase, improve its image, to reject its image as a peaceloving country, or whatever. —— project its image. but the us is becoming strategic as well. vice president pence does not stop by to 0kinawa anyway, he is going to south korea to attend the opening ceremony of the olympics. he doesn't have too go there anyway, but he has decided to make a brief stop at the 0kinawa in order to remind them that sports and security are two different issues. a north korean

soviets permanently left the korean peninsula there was a war and the war began in june one nine hundred fifty it was the unsettled issue of the post-war configuration north korea had considered itself to be an independent entity japanese colonial fighting force and the south korean government was. created by the americans it was just the lackeys of the south of the japanese who were put into place in a world by virtue of a military dictatorship now we have a situation where the united states does not want to give up its control over south korea because south korea one is an important military base for the united states and creates part of a network of bases along with the eleven american bases in japan it's part of the ongoing asia pivot so-called that obama announced but really has been going on for a lot longer since before then so the united states is a fearful that south korea could become independent that's the real issue what does north korea want north korea wants the security guarantee they want to and the u.s. south korean military exercises that simulate the destruction of their country that take place twice a year there's a possibility for a n

what the north koreans want and i'm not sure. n't want the south koreans will fall for it. >> do you think the south koreans will agree to this meeting that this invitation that kim yo-jong has offered? >> boy. there is two broad pieces we have to understand here. i don't think they are going to agree to it right off the start. there have to be reconditions and something the north koreans give. as you just said they got a ticket to the olympics without payinging anything. the ticket we are asking them to punch is cease their nuclear program. they would say that is our only defense against a potential attack by the americns so what is the air gap between doing nothing? the south koreans showing us because they got an invitation and requiring that the north koreans give up a nuclear program? i don't know what that is but that is what is called diplom y diplomacy. there has to be talks and preconditions but it can't be giving up nuclear weapons because i don't think the north koreans will ever do that. >> kim jong-un is -- there was

and many north many south koreans are just furious that if north korea is at the games as we say they are is it a sign that the serious about improving long term political ties all resists just a temporary sort of smoke and mirrors campaign. well you know we won't know intel a couple years from now but there really is no indication that the north koreans have changed their fundamental goals which is to take over south korea and what they're doing is attempting to subvert the democracy there they would be very successful in creating this appearance of progress you know we'll just have to see but the kim family has had these goals for seven decades they've pursued them relentlessly sometimes they've been charm offensive sometimes they kill people but that's their goal has remained the same and kept on going to the north korean leader has been talking more and more recently about quote unquote final victory which is north korean lingo of course taking over the south in theory we have been talking and been hearing about the charm offensive president move wants this to be a peace games and

korea the north koreans are saying they have no desire publicly at least to engage in dialogue with the united states new zealand is cleaning up of to being hit by the remnants of cyclon gaita mudslides and floods have trapped about five thousand people in one small town that the top of the south island dozens of schools were closed and the power still off in thousands of homes and gets a rift through the pacific island nation of tona last week causing widespread destruction. still ahead on al-jazeera. our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after you a warning from the u.s. about the peace plan that palestine's president put to the u.n. class. by mr butler in southeastern france is the french government revealed his new plans for an immigration law the mayor of this city cannot says the state should be doing more to protect refugees. from flowing the island winds to an enchanting desert breeze the. hello and welcome to international weather forecast now as we take a l

i'm honored on a welcome north korean leader kim jong un has invited south korean president to pyongyang it would be the first meeting of korean majors in more than a decade says the earliest days sr has responded to the invites with a call for both sides to build the conditions needed for the business. oh more on this now when it crossed over to our correspondent jason strawberry who is near the site of the olympics thing going on in south korea hey jason how significant is this invitation by the north korean leader kim jong un are we going to have peace by the end of the olympic games. that would be very optimistic but it certainly would be significant if president moon makes that trip up the pyongyang like you said it's been more than a decade the first center korean summit was in two thousand the second in late two thousand and seven and for almost a decade there was virtually no dialogue between seoul and. so this this invitation that was carried by kim jong il in sr is certainly really significant if not surprising so it's very big step in any case and one of. the plans behind this

korea the north koreans are saying they have no desire publicly at least to engage in dialogue with the united states the palestinian leaders proposed an international peace plan with israel that rules out the u.s. as the chief broken mahmoud abbas told the u.n. security council that palestinians have lost faith in the donald trump government's ability to mediate for medicare to james base reports. president abbas's presence here was rare and carefully calculated normally his ambassador attends this monthly meeting he came himself to express his displeasure at the trumpet ministration he suggested its decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and to cut funding to the un agency that helps palestinians disqualified it from leading peace efforts instead he proposed a new approach very early on. i would call for the convening of an international peace conference by mid two thousand and eighteen based on international law and relevant un resolutions with broad international participation including the

korea the north koreans are saying they have no desire publicly at least to engage in dialogue with the united states as was still ahead on the edges there. our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after. a warning from the u.s. about the peace plan that the palestinian president has proposed to the united nations thus families torn apart venezuela. make desperate choices know what it is a vibrant economic crisis. welcome back the satellite imagery for southeastern parts of asia is useful in that it reveals very little western difficult share activity across the philippines and that's likely to continue during the course of thursday further towards the showers across the borneo java a few thunderstorms are likely here and as you move up through them are a potential weather conditions geria looking too bad all the way towards the southern parts of thailand but we head into friday we'll see a few more showers developing around the gulf of thailand but it should be largely

will be worse off in the end now during the olympics president moon was a charmer and true the north koreans while mike pants north them on purpose saying they sons of mass age that north korea has to abandon its nuclear weapons do you think that was wise on his part i mean did he miss an opportunity for an informal talk or a preliminary talk like you put it well my understanding is that. if i was president of pence was a willing to sit down with a north korean delegation in a meeting about north koreans refused to talk to the americans you know just before the scheduled meeting so. what the way vice president the parents behaved at the opening ceremony i think it was intended to. to neutralize defect of charm offensive that north korea was. doing in the olympics so i see nothing wrong with the present tense is.

it was a controversial arrival at the closing ceremony of the winter olympics for the north korean delegation. some south koreans are angry about the delegation leader general kimmitt is thought to be behind attacks against the south including the sinking of a warship in twenty ten that killed forty six sailors. prisoner of korea is almost zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero korea to hear oh. no. this is. south korean president mungy. a in use the games to reboot intercalary and relationships. the so-called peace olympics included a joint women's hockey team athlete celebrating korean nationalism by marching under a unified flag as well as a visit by kim yo job the sister of the north korean leader she arrived with an invite for mood to visit yeah. it's a two hour test it was a good olympics as it were so concerned about it last year but it went so well many north koreans came and i wish this could lead to unification. it was interesting he was an honor for us to host it i really enjoyed it. even the choice of olympic venues was symbolic gang one province is divided between the north and

a north koreans rebuffed president moon's attempts to facilitate a midi skeptics say that this north korean charm offensive is heavy on the symbolism but they doubt that it will result in anything substantive they say this is an attempt by the north koreans to drive a wedge between the united states and the south koreans into an advance their own agenda but for now president moon and many south koreans are encouraged by the prospect that what we've been seeing could be the beginning of a reboot of injury and relations robert kelly is a professor of political science and diplomacy at this on national university is skeptical that the past few days diplomacy will lead to a breakthrough. the best thing that the olympics can do right now is sort of for stall the march to war that seemed to be taking place last year as long as the olympics make it look at the north and south are talking to one another then becomes much harder for donald trump and the trump white house to go on t.v. and advocate for for strikes right we know that some people are some pretty seriously thinking about it they j

because north south koreans want to talk to north koreans and vice versa that's a wedge for america which is thousands of miles away it shows the arrogance and hubris and i would say the racism the architectural racism of the of the whole paradigm whereby south korea does not have the right to carry out its own independent negotiations you are right peter the wedge in korea is the united states korea was divided at the thirty eighth parallel because a couple of americans who didn't know anything about korea drew a line and they showed it to their soviet counterparts and the two sides agreed that there would be two zones of control in the korean peninsula and then five years later when soviet troops and american troops had temporarily for the soviets permanently left the korean peninsula there was a war and the war began in june one thousand nine hundred fifty it was the unsettled issue of the post-war configuration north korea had considered itself to be an independent and the japanese colonial fighting force and the south korean government was created by the americans and it was just the

we did convey the message to the north koreans multiple times. essary that north korea and the us are to leave a talk to each other to solve this ina a talk to each other to solve this in a peaceful manner. but at the end of this olympic reverie there could bea of this olympic reverie there could be a dose of reality. the show of harmony has given south korea some breathing space, but tensions still lurks in the background. unfortunately it's not going to last. north koreans are entirely separating. they have said it from the first meeting, that the nuclear issue has nothing to do with the cooperation between the two koreas and certainly the olympic games. these games are ending just as they began, with a major diplomatic breakthrough. north korea has said it's willing to talk to the united states. there is still the huge problem of its nuclear weapons programme, but this is the first progress made on this peninsula in yea rs. let's get progress made on this peninsula in years. let's get more now on washington's response to the reported offer of t

would it be problematic with south korea decided to meet with the north koreans? vice president pence: let me say we haven't requested a meeting with north korea. if i have any contact with them in any context, over the next two days, my message will be the same as it was here today. north korea needs to once and for all abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions and the pressure will continue on it, economically and diplomatically, until that's accomplished. we'll also make it very clear that the united states of america and our allies are fully prepared to defend ourselves, and defend our freedom and people. so we'll see if any kind of meeting comes about, in any context, but i can assure you my message will be very same what i said here at yokota air base and the same what i said in tokyo yesterday, and that is the time has come for north korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions. set aside this long pattern of deception and provocation and then, and only then, can we begin to move forward to a peaceable outcome on the peninsula. hom

north korean sanctions should continue unless they keep up their nuclear weapons i think more than thirty percent of the south korean population agrees with me on social media some are saying that the united states is not acting in a considerate manner that it's putting its allies south korea in an awkward position one person saying that perhaps the united states just wants to solve the korean problem on its own another person wondering if the continued isolation of north korea will inspire a quote preemptive strike scenario the big question is how will north korea react. are we can see to see the name he now his associate professor of politics and international studies at international christian university in tokyo thank you very much indeed for joining us what do you think what do you make of the timing of this quote unquote largest set of sanctions ever according to mr trump only north korea at the same time as yvonne. trunk is in trump is in south korea and indeed a quite a high powered north korean delegation is due in south korea what do you make of that. well i think the united sta

they are threatened and annoyed by the north korean regime.north korean attack, that is what drives people in seoul. a lunatic dictatorjust north of them with weapons. but there is also a not insignificant amount of fraternal angst between the two countries that i think people underestimate. the second thing is, maybe trump can claim, if the movement is because trump has been sabre rattling, i think we can claim that is something that trump did but i don't think it was because he was particularly strident or threatening. i think maybe this is the beginning of some sort of global show of solidarity of people hating trump and sort of getting together. a perverse motivation for all the little people to get together and for all the falling out countries to get together because the one thing everyone can agree on is that they hate trump. i am not sure that is true for the japanese. one of the main things he is trying to do is to help the japanese who are understandably incredibly concerned. so he has a play with china which he is worried about, and

amy: talk about who this north korean defector is who was honored. >> he is a north korean defector.bviously, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of north koreans suffered under the famine, which there was inadequate food. amy: his financier thor? >> tim short of a renowned journalist for the nation, just wrote a piece that is up-to-date about the kind of shady back channel dealings that thor how how person has this history, i believe his family was part of the attempted coup of hugo chavez in venezuela and finance back i very right-wing funders and has been part of a very right-wing campaign. they tried assembly's and even during the puffin hazel administration, they had asked them, please, don't do this. whether they are sending provocative material that north breeze is as a threat, you know, i think there's a very concerted effort to try to use defectors to portray a certain narrative about north korea that sometimes is on shaky ground. amy: last month, you talk to the suffering of the people north korea, the united nations children's fund -- or unicef -- warned tens of th

back to the south korean media it has been wall to wall coverage of kim jong il and there's a north korean delegation but if you talk to south koreans they have a lot of excitement and pride as we get ready to watch the opening ceremony of the twenty eight thousand winter olympics. i hope that with north korean athletes participation this could be peaceful and picks and i hope we can achieve reunification between the south and the. regardless of north korea's participation the olympics should be a festival for the mood here is good south korea is hosting the olympics and athletes are coming from around the world good opportunity to promote south korea. now at the opening ceremony the north and south koreans will march under a unified flag for the first time at an international sporting event in eleven years though elizabeth it's not the first time they've done so nine other times this is a way for the koreas to celebrate ethnic nationalism or to thank you very much for that for now that's fantastic and i'm joining us live from thank you. but just before the games began and a pail by forty

ice it's amazing and so kim jong un's youngest sister kim jong delivered an invitation from the north korean leader the south korean president in to visit pyongyang she's visiting for the winter olympics the star player and the diplomatic game is taking place alongside the sporting events. moon responded positively his spokesman said. in reply president reagan expressed his will to make it happen by creating the right conditions in the future years. it's not clear what those conditions are but south korea will have to navigate the tensions between its know the neighbor and its ally the u.s. which are at loggerheads over north korea's nuclear ambitions. u.s. vice president mike pence has used his presence at the games to keep up pressure on the north and caution the south korean government against pulling for a charm offensive with that in mind president moon who has always advocated for engagement with the north said better ties between the two koreas rested on dialogue between the u.s. and north korea. german president frank carter steinmeyer also attending the games so the invitation as a

as pence makes his way here, the north koreans are arriving in large numbers. t only some 22 athletes here in training, but a ferry boat arrived carrying 140-member art troupe on the coast. they were met by anti-north korea protesters from south korea. some holding up signs of the po portrait of kim jong un with his face blocked out in black. there is another delegation that will include 200 cheerleaders and tae kwon do team. and the insulting criticism of president trump calling him an old lunatic. meanwhile, an unexpected hiccup here in pyeongchang. authorities here is a that there's been an outbreak of the norovirus also known as winter vomiting bug. 41 guards came down with it. acute diarrhea and nausea. they had to swap out 1,200 guards and bring in 900 more and disinfecting buses and an come da -- and an coccommodations. >>> thank you, ivan. "early start" continues now. we have the latest on the markets and where we're headed today. >> we're in the ebb and flow of the stock market. >> the white house attempts to ease jitters after the record selloff on wal