Bach to visit North Korea to discuss Winter Games participation

Olympics chief Thomas Bach is hoping to visit North Korea as early as this month to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in the 2018 Winter Games, a report said.

South Korean organisers of the Pyeongchang Olympics are pushing for the North to compete as they hope to portray the event as a symbol of peace on the flashpoint peninsula.

The North missed the Oct 30 deadline to confirm its participation, although its pairs figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik had qualified.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are in talks with Pyongyang over president Bach’s possible trip, Yonhap news agency said, citing unnamed Seoul government sources.

“The visit may be made by the end of this year,” Yonhap quoted one of the officials as saying.

The trip may be made by another senior IOC official instead of Bach, said another official quoted by Yonhap, adding it remained unclear whether the North would approve the visit.

A spokeswoman for the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korea affairs, said she was not aware of the planned visit but Seoul remained committed to helping the North participate in the Games.

Kim Yong-hyun, politics professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University and a North Korea expert, said it was “highly likely” that Pyongyang would approve Bach’s visit.

“He is a purely sports-related official, not a political figure, and his trip may offer the North a turning point at a time when the US is talking about a pre-emptive attack,” Yong-hyun said. — AFP