Tensions have continued to rise in the region, following a series of missile tests by North Korea in recent months.

Matters have been escalated further by the increasing rhetoric between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim has warned that North Korea would consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasures in history" against America in response to Trump’s threat to destroy them.

Fears have grown that countries may not participate after French Sports Minister Laura Flessel warned her country could miss next year's Games because of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

However Noh Kyu-Duk, a spokesman for Seoul's Foreign Ministry, has claimed his Government is doing all it can to ensure a secure Games.

"The South Korean Government is doing its utmost to ensure that the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics will be safe," he told Agence France-Presse.

"As of now, no country has officially said it will not participate."

Flessel had claimed last week that if the crisis deepened and "our security cannot be assured, the French Olympics team will stay at home".

French National Olympic and Sports Committee President Denis Masseglia distanced himself from Flessel by claiming that they have no plans to miss the Games.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chief executive Scott Blackmun also issued a statement confirming their preparations are continuing for the Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have contacted all 205 National Olympic Committees asking them to "coordinate any media enquiries and responses" about the situation in North Korea with them.

The IOC have stated they are closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula and have been in close contact with Governments and the United Nations (UN) over recent months.

The UN are currently finalising an "Olympic Truce" resolution due for approval at a General Assembly in November.