MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - North Korea is ready to defend its sovereignty at any cost, including during the PyeongChang Games, a member of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Anton Morozov, who recently visited North Korea, told Interfax on Friday.
"North Korea is ready to defend its sovereignty at any cost and to fight against the illegal sanctions imposed on it, so I believe they may take some actions, in particular, during the PyeongChang Olympiad," Morozov said.
"Of course, there is a certain risk, considering that the mood among North Koreans is quite martial," he said.
The conflict may escalate, "especially because of the recent totally unfair decision of the International Olympic Committee, which prohibited the Russian national team from participating in the Games under the Russian flag," Morozov said.
"They will not be vengeful, but they are indignant at the decision barring Russia from those Games. Everyone thinks there should be no politics in sports, and in this case the motivation is clearly political. Of course, both North Korea and many other countries feel indignant about that," he said.
"Tensions continue to escalate on the Korean Peninsula, and if an armed conflict occurs between North Korea and the U.S., it will, unfortunately, primarily harm countries located nearby, primarily South Korea and Japan; this is why they worry so much," Morozov said.
U.S. Ambassador to the United States Nikki Haley said earlier she was not completely sure that the U.S. national team should go to the PyeongChang Games and that everything would depend on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.