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Article snippet: The Winter Olympics have started in South Korea with the shadow of U.S.-North Korea tensions looming over them. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has dubbed these games the “Peace Olympics,” but North Korea and the United States made clear in the days leading up the opening ceremony that nothing has changed between the two. And few, if any, expect the Olympics-inspired détente to last after the world’s athletes depart the peninsula. “These are the ‘Fake Olympics,” Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, said of Moon’s nickname for the games. “The specter of war is hanging over these games.” The New Year began with signs of a lull in the nuclear crisis that’s been brewing on the Korean peninsula. North and South Korea held their first high-level talks in years to allow for the North’s participation in the Olympics, and the United States agreed to Seoul’s request to pause joint military exercises so as to lower tensions during the event. But the lull followed unprecedented verbal jousting between MORE and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with the two sides hurling personal insults at one another and Trump in one memorable moment bragging that the nuclear “button” on his desk was bigger than his rival’s. South Korea has continued to be outwardly hopeful as the figure skating, curling and skiing gets underway. In the opening ceremony, athletes from the North and South marched together under a unification flag, during whic... Link to the full article to read more