The Winter Olympics are starting soon, and in an historic breakthrough, Communist North Korea will send some athletes and a cheering squad to participate in the games, which are being held in the neighboring country of South Korea. The government of South Korea decided to welcome the North and agreed to walk under one flag and even combine athletes on the women’s ice hockey team. But North and South Korea have a frosty relationship and now people in South Korea are protesting the cooperation for the games. Listen to learn why leaders in South Korea are supporting this alliance and how it looks to the rest of the world.
Story Length: 4:50
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April 24, 2017
3:48
During his trip to South Korea, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea against testing the “strength of the Armed Forces of the United States”. The warning came a day after a failed ballistic missile test in North Korea. Pence also described the U.S. alliance with South Korea as “ironclad” and “immutable”. Listen to learn more about how the Trump administration is taking a more aggressive stance against North Korea.
Read MoreDecember 22, 2016
3:18
Lawmakers in South Korean voted 234-56 recently to impeach President Park Geun-hye. A constitutional court will now decide whether to remove her from office because of her involvement in a corruption scandal. In South Korea there have been protests of Park’s leadership, with over 2 million people calling for her impeachment. President Park’s power as president is temporarily removed as the court makes its decision. Listen to hear more about the ongoing political events in South Korea.
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2014
3:41
In past Olympics, vote trading, where one judge trades for votes with another judge, skewed judging in ice skating; however, when anonymity was enacted, vote trading just got worse. Listen to this story to learn how subjectivity has a role in judging.
Read MoreFebruary 10, 2014
3:03
The Sochi Olympics started with lots of snow—lots of man-made snow, guaranteed by machines. This time last year, Sochi was dry, but they have enough snow now to cover almost 920 football fields. Listen to this story to learn how the machine works.
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