“We will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games,” Vice President Mike Pence said en route to Pyeongchang, vowing to highlight North Korean provocations and alleged human rights abuses and promising new sanctions.

Mr. Pence has a point. North Korea’s participation in these Olympics runs the risk of rewarding bad behavior and handing Mr. Kim a diplomatic victory that he will brandish as proof that his strategy was right. Still, we have to start somewhere after so many years of tension.

I don’t advocate vacationing at North Korea’s ski resort, which serves as propaganda for Mr. Kim and a reward for the political elite while the rest of the people go without heat, food and clean water. And yet, as the first American journalist to work in North Korea, where I opened The Associated Press’s Pyongyang bureau, I know the value of giving North Koreans a chance to interact with the outside world.