In the spirit of the 2018 Winter Olympics—which take place in Pyeongchang County, South Korea—North and South Korea reconciled their differences and marched into the games as a combined front at the opening ceremonies on Friday. However, Vice President Mike Pence, who was in South Korea to guide the U.S. delegation, wasn’t too fazed by the event.
The team walked into the stadium carrying the “unification flag,” which displays a silhouette of the Korean peninsula. The Washington Post reporter Anna Fifield described the joyous response to when the two Koreas walked in the opening ceremony on Twitter.
She also noted that it appeared that Pence and his wife were the only people in the VP box who didn’t stand up in support of the moment. Pence was in the box with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, North Korea President Kim Yong-Nam, and Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Un.
An anonymous White House official told the Associated Press, “Pence stood only for the U.S. team, despite other people in the box standing and applauding when athletes from the two Koreas walked in together.”
Pence isn’t a fan of North Korea. On Friday, he tweeted a video of him being interviewed on NBC News, writing, “We are determined to make sure that even in the midst of the powerful background & idealism of the Olympics, the World is reminded of the truth about North Korea. #VPinASIA.”
According to ThinkProgress, Pence has “no plans” to meet with North Korean officials while in Pyeongchang. The vice president has also promised to tell “the truth about North Korea at every stop” during his trip. The parents of Otto Warmbier—a student who died from severe brain injuries he endured while detained in North Korea—accompanied Pence to the games, a move that certainly added fuel to the fire.
