Pence to confront North Korea’s media narrative at the Olympics: report

Vice President Pence is expected to push back in the coming week against any positive media narrative the Winter Olympics create for North Korea, Axios reported Sunday.

“The Vice President will remind the world that everything the North Koreans do at the Olympics is a charade to cover up the fact that they are the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet,” an aide for Pence told Axios.

Pence will lead the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics, which will begin Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He will be joined by the top U.S. general in South Korea and other military and diplomatic officials. 

{mosads}“The vice president is traveling to the Olympic Games in South Korea to reinforce the strong U.S. presence on the Korean peninsula and send a clear message of American resolve to the North Korean regime,” Jarrod Agen, Pence’s deputy chief of staff, said last month.

The Winter Olympics are taking place as tensions have cooled slightly between North and South Korea. The two engaged in talks last month for the first time in years, and North Korea will send a delegation of athletes to compete in this month’s games. 

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is weighing all options for deterring North Korea’s nuclear program, including a strategy for a preventative strike.

President Trump has frequently lobbed barbs at the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, leading to heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Trump has pointed to talks between North and South Korea as a sign that increased sanctions on the former are working.