By (Reuters)
Davos, Switzerland – South Korea has prepared “all-contingency scenarios” in case North Korea stages another weapons test even as the two countries hold a series of talks and mutual visits around next month’s Winter Olympics, South Korea’s foreign minister said.
“We go into these discussions with a clear understanding of what might be possible,” Kang Kyung-wha told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Another provocation is always a possibility. So we approach these talks with all contingency scenarios in mind and are prepared to deal with whatever might happen, but overall it’s a good thing.”
Kang, who is in Davos to discuss recent progress in inter-Korean talks and boost awareness of the Olympics, did not discuss details of the scenarios that South Korea was prepared for.
After their first formal talks in more than two years this month, officials from the two Koreas are making visits to each other to facilitate the North’s participation in the Olympics to be held in the South’s alpine resort town of Pyeongchang.
“This is an opportunity for engagement and a peaceful engagement around the Olympic Games, and we just need to make the best of it,” Kang said in the interview, which took place on Wednesday.