figure skating

The next effort to defuse the nuclear brinksmanship over North Korea’s missile and bomb testing may come, not from diplomats, but from a pair of North Korean figure skaters who perform to music by the Beatles. An obscure competition on Thursday and Friday here in Bavaria has gained geopolitical urgency as the pairs team of Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik seek to become the first North Korean athletes to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in February in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Since beginning her new profession as a Public Diplomacy Envoy, Kwan has had the opportunity to work with two presidents and three Secretaries of State, and she continues to make strides in the global arena as a promoter of American values and athletic interests.

Evan Lysacek, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist in men’s figure skating was recently named as a sports envoy for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs department. He just concluded a whirlwind visit to Stockholm, Sweden, and Minsk, Belarus.