US Ambassador Nikki Haley: Participation in Winter Olympics Is 'Open Question'

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Wednesday that the United States' participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea is an "open question" due to hostilities with neighboring North Korea. 

"I think those are conversations we are going to have to have, but what have we always said? We don't ever fear anything, we live our lives," Haley said on CNN. "And certainly that is a perfect opportunity for all of them to go and do something they have worked so hard for. What we will do is, we will make sure that we're taking every precaution possible to make sure that they're safe and to know everything that's going on around them."

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have become increasingly adversarial over the former's 10-plus months in office. 

North Korea's nuclear program has drawn the attention of Trump, who has taken to calling Kim "Little Rocket Man." There is also concern about the safety of U.S. citizens following President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

"There's an open question. I have not heard anything about that, but I do know in the talks that we have—whether it's Jerusalem or North Korea—it's about, how do we protect the US citizens in the area?" Haley said when asked if a decision on the Olympics had been made.

The 2018 Winter Games get underway Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang.