Los Angeles Times

Despite the pageantry of the opening ceremony, politics still takes center stage

PYEONCHANG, South Korea – A rumbling sound drifted through the stands at Olympic Stadium, soon growing to a roar, the crowd finally stirring on a wind-chilled night.

Nothing about the opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Games - not the music or the light shows, certainly not the speeches - carried quite as much charge as the entrance of the Korean athletes.

This wasn't just the home team marching onto the field; this was a combined squad from the North and South, from neighboring countries that have endured decades of

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