WDIV’s Devin Scillian Talks Trip to South Korea Ahead of Winter Olympics

To many, it can seem “the end game has always been reunifying the two Koreas.”

Devin Scillian/WDIV

The Winter Olympic Games kick off next Friday from Pyeongchang, South Korea.

As with every four years, we wait to tune in and watch our favorite sports–speed skating, bobsled, or curling.

But this year comes with an extra layer of intrigue. 

The Russians have been officially banned from the games–though their athletes can compete if they can prove they are clean of performance enhancing drugs. And despite deep political and practical divisions, the South Koreans and North Koreans will present as a united team at these winter games

WDIV News Anchor Devin Scillian goes to the locations of the Olympic Games ahead of the events to tell us more about those cultures.

Scillian just returned from South Korea. 

He joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about his trip to South Korea and about the pre-Olympic television special, “Korea Rising: The 2018 Winter Games,” which will air on Channel 4. 

Scillian says the North and South Korean teams coming together is a significant moment, diplomatically. He says it can appear as though “the end game has always been reunifying the two Koreas.” 

After the Korean War, families were torn apart and there was a longing for families to be connected once again.  Now, those familial ties have changed.  

“That longing has dissipated more and more,” says Scillian. “I think to a lot of South Koreans, particularly young ones, the idea of reunification is a little horrifying.” 

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation. 

Devin Scillian/WDIV

 

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