FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE/SPORTS: “U.S. Vice President Mike Pence can’t attend a sporting event these days without attracting a controversy.
Four months after causing a ruckus by leaving a National Football League game after some players protested during the national anthem, Pence drew criticism from some Koreans after he remained seated as the unified Korean team entered the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday [2-9-18] night. Pence snapped back on Saturday, saying he was proud to have stood only for the Americans.
During the Opening Ceremony, Pence sat while top officials from North and South Korea—and most of the stadium—rose from their seats to cheer the arrival of the joint team, which was formed last month through a last-minute intervention from the International Olympic Committee.
Pence’s move earned a rebuke from North Korea, who accused him of abusing the Olympics ‘for a political purpose,’ and even from some in the South who criticized his decision to remain seated, as well as his failure to meet with North Korean leaders at a pre-Opening Ceremony VIP reception. The vice president ‘does not applaud [North] Korea or exchange pleasantries [with] the most oppressive regime on earth,’ Pence’s communications director, Jarrod Agen, wrote in a tweet Saturday.”
-Louise Radnofsky and Jonathan Cheng, “Pence Sat During Opening Ceremony. Some Koreans Took Offense.,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 10, 2018 05:38am