[ad_1]
FILE PHOTO: The Olympic rings are pictured in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, May 17, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
SEOUL – Seoul will pursue a bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics without resuming its bid to host the Olympics with the North Korean capital Pyongyang, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon told Reuters.
Amid hopes for better relations with the nuclear-armed North, Seoul submitted a proposal to co-host the 2032 Olympics with Pyongyang to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2021, before Brisbane was named as the host city.
“I think the strategy for 2032 will fail because of the unpredictability of inter-Korean relations,” Oh said in an interview.
The 2032 joint bid seeks to build on the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics held in the South in 2018, when athletes from the two Koreas marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and joined the women’s ice hockey team.
IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed the joint offer at the time as a “historic initiative”.
But relations are beginning to deteriorate again, and North Korea has tested a number of ballistic missiles in the past year.
Pyongyang regularly trades threats with Seoul and its allies in Washington, where officials say North Korea may be ready to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 2017.
Oh said Seoul will remain flexible to the idea of holding some events in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or Pyongyang if relations are good enough by that time.
Officials with the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee (KSOC) said they had not received an official statement from Seoul or the southern city of Busan about the 2036 bid.
It will be up to individual cities in negotiations with the national government to decide whether to host together with Pyongyang, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss active deliberations.
Among the potential rivals for the Games, Qatar is expected to make a push to host the event after successfully staging the soccer World Cup last year, while India, Germany and Egypt are also reportedly considering bids.
Mexico has also thrown its hat into the ring for the 2036 Games.
RELATED STORY
Your subscription cannot be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Read Next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & 70+ other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to news, download from 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For suggestions, complaints, or questions, please contact us.
[ad_2]
Source link