Buoyed by the role the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics played in easing tensions last year, South Korean and North Korean officials are due to meet on Friday with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland to discuss what would be the first ever bid by two countries. To make Olympic history, experts say the long-shot bid would need to overcome international sanctions against North Korea, decades of mistrust between Seoul and Pyongyang, and wide political and economic differences between two countries still officially at war. The Switzerland meeting comes ahead of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, which will be key to the future of reclusive North Korea’s relations with the world. Since the Olympic bid was announced after a summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in September, South Korean officials have been pushing forward with plans despite the obstacles. On Monday … [Read more...] about Diplomatic gold? Joint North Korea-South Korea Olympic bid faces long odds
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North, South Korea to send letter to IOC on joint 2032 bid
North, South Korea to send letter to IOC on joint 2032 bid The Saigon Times Daily Hwang Chung Gum and Won Yunjong of Korea carry the unification flag during the opening ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea February 9, 2018 - - PHOTO: REUTERS SEOUL (REUTERS) - The two Koreas agreed at a meeting on Friday to send a letter to the International Olympic Committee confirming that they want to co-host the 2032 Summer Games, they said in a joint statement. Sports officials from both sides held talks to discuss ways of expanding sports exchanges. The statement also said they agreed to form a combined team to compete in the men’s Handball World Championship in Germany next year. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to pursue the joint Olympics bid at their summit in Pyongyang in September. Athletes from North and South Korea marched under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang … [Read more...] about North, South Korea to send letter to IOC on joint 2032 bid
Samsung heir in South Korea’s delegation to North: Seoul
Lee Jae-yong, heir to the Samsung empire, will be part of President Moon Jae-in's delegation to Pyongyang, Moon's office said AFP/Ahn Young-joon Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and the heads of the SK and LG groups will be part of President Moon Jae-in's delegation as he heads for a meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong Un, Moon's office said. Kim Yong-hwan, vice-chairman of Hyundai Motor Group - whose founder was a refugee from the North - will be among the entourage. Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of the separate Hyundai Group which pioneered many cross-border economic projects, will also accompany Moon. Hyun met Kim's father Kim Jong Il several times. She was among the first South Koreans to meet the young leader when he assumed power following his father's death in 2011. Moon, a dove who favours dialogue with the North to nudge it toward denuclearisation, has advocated closer economic ties across the border, despite multiple sanctions on the North over its atomic weapons and ballistic … [Read more...] about Samsung heir in South Korea’s delegation to North: Seoul
N. Korean athletes to fly South for Winter Olympics
North Korean skiers and skaters were due to arrive in the South Thursday to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Games, setting the stage for a "peace Olympics" after a year of high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear programme. FLYING SOUTH. A North Korean national flag (top centre L) and other nations' flags flutter over the Athletes Village in Gangneung on February 1, 2018 ahead of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Yonhap/AFP Eight days before the opening ceremony, 10 North Korean skiers and skaters were to fly in on a chartered Asiana Airlines plane, in a rare direct flight between the two halves of the divided peninsula -- for which a special exemption had to be sought from US sanctions. The three cross-country skiers, three alpine skiers, two short-track speed skaters and two figure skaters will accompany a South Korean delegation who held joint ski training at the North's Masikryong ski resort -- a pet project of leader Kim Jong-Un -- in the latest in a flurry of … [Read more...] about N. Korean athletes to fly South for Winter Olympics
North Korea says will stop nuclear tests, scrap test site
North Korea said on Saturday it would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests, scrap its nuclear test site and instead pursue economic growth and peace, ahead of planned summits with South Korea and the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country no longer needed to conduct nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests because it had completed its goal of developing the weapons, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Kim is scheduled to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next week and with U.S. President Donald Trump in late May or early June. The pledge to halt the development of nuclear weapons, initiated by his grandfather, would mean a significant reversal for Kim, 34, who for years has celebrated such weapons as a pillar of his regime’s legitimacy and power. A testing freeze and commitment to close the test site alone would fall short of Washington’s demand that Pyongyang completely dismantle all its … [Read more...] about North Korea says will stop nuclear tests, scrap test site