A New York Times story on poor attendance at the Winter Olympics published Thursday laid some of the blame on President Donald Trump and his "fire and fury" remarks directed at North Korea last year.
The 2018 games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, have been marked by exciting competitions in front of sparse crowds, the Times reported:
Swaths of empty blue seats have been a familiar backdrop despite organizers’ efforts to fill in gaps by providing volunteers with so-called passion tickets that allow them to attend events and by bringing in school groups by the busload.
So far, fans have been able to show up right before the start of all but the most popular events and buy a ticket.
While the Times noted South Korea doesn't have a strong alpine sports tradition, it also referenced the "heightened political tension" between North Korea and the U.S., including Trump's comment about dictator Kim Jong Un facing "fire and fury" from the U.S. if he continued his nuclear threats against the country, as part of the problem:
Heightened political tension between North Korea and the United States in the buildup to the Games did not help sales. Less than six months before the Games opened, President Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea in response to a spate of missile tests by the North. The heavily armed border separating the Koreas is about 40 miles from the Olympic Park.
North Korea claimed a successful hydrogen bomb test in September.