S. Korea’s Moon urges IOC to help bring North to Pyeongchang

SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-In on Monday urged the International Olympic Committee to help North Korea participate in next year’s Winter Games, saying it would contribute to regional and world peace.

Moon, who has advocated engagement with the isolated neighbour, has suggested that two Koreas form a joint team for the 2018 Winter Games, which the South is hosting in Pyeongchang.

The South and the nuclear-armed North are separated by one of the world’s most heavily-armed borders and remain technically at war after the Korean War ended with armistice in 1953 instead of a peace treaty. Pyongyang boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Organisers of Pyeongchang 2018 have urged Pyongyang to take part to make them a “peace Olympics”.

But no North Korean athletes have so far qualified for the Games, raising the prospect that none will attend.

An inter-Korea unified team could allow North Koreans to take part in team events such as ice hockey, while “wild cards” could enable them to bypass the qualification rules.

Meeting the IOC chief Thomas Bach in Seoul, Moon renewed his push for “sports diplomacy”, urging Bach’s help to enable the North to take part.

“If North Korea participates, it will contribute not only to the Olympic spirit but also to regional and world peace as well as the harmony of humankind,” Moon’s spokesman quoted him as saying. — AFP