The Winter Olympics, usually, might be all about the skating and skiing. But in 2018, with South Korea hosting it smack in the middle of heightened tensions with its Northern counterpart, there was little doubt that the sidelights of this year’s Games might be more interesting than any actual sporting event. And boy, did we see some sights.

Here is a list of all that has happened on the sidelines of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that have less to do with sport and more to do with, umm, world peace?

North Korea sends Kim Yo Jong...

In a historic visit to South Korea, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was part of a diplomatic delegation led by ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam — the highest-level North Korean official ever to go to the South.

Ms. Kim shook hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, was seated at the top table during a leaders’ reception and even shared space with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in the VIP box during the opening ceremony.

According to the Associated Press, the last member of the Kim family to set foot in Seoul was Ms. Yo Jong's grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North’s founder, after his forces invaded in 1950 and the capital fell.

Mr. Moon also received a rare invitation from Ms. Kim to visit Pyongyang on the second day of the Games during a lunch hosted by Mr. Moon.

...and a joint Hockey team

For the first time in the history of the two countries, the Koreas fielded a joint women’s ice hockey team, with 12 North Korean players.

According to the AP, though it has no real medal contenders and sent only 22 athletes, North Korea has turned out to be a major political player in Pyeongchang. It has dispatched a delegation of nearly 500 people mostly musicians, dancers, and an all-female cheering squad.

In addition, North and South Korean athletes entered the Olympic Stadium together during the opening ceremony, waving flags showing a unified Korea. It was the rivals’ first joint Olympic march since 2007, AP reported.

Mike Pence won’t stand up

Visuals of Ms. Kim and Mr. Pence sitting next to and trying to ignore each each other at the Olympics opening ceremony have gone viral. What also caught people’s eyes was the fact that Mr. Pence did not stand up to cheer the unified Korean team when they entered the stadium — a move that many called hypocritical, drawing parallels to American athletes who chose to kneel during the national anthem as a form of protest.

Mr. Pence has been outspoken about his disapproval of that form of protest, even going as far as to leave a football match midway after some players knelt.

Also seated were his wife Karen Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Russia has no flag

The Russian delegation was unusual this time — they had no flag. Numerous doping-related sanctions by the International Olympic Committee had left the Russian team unable to carry its flag during the opening ceremony. Instead the 188 athletes cleared by the International Olympic Committee participated under the banner of ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’.

The AP reported that the team paraded in “uncommonly” and unusually “sedate” grey and white jackets instead of their usual red.

And there was a ‘possible’ virus attack

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that there was a possible attack on the internet and wi-fi systems about 45 minutes ahead of the opening ceremony. Organizing committee spokeswoman Nancy Park told AP that the defense ministry and a cybersecurity team were investigating the outage and that it didn’t affect Friday’s opening ceremony or any competitions.