With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selecting Brisbane, Australia as the preferred negotiator to discuss hosting the 2032 Summer Olympics, the joint hosting of the Seoul-Pyongyang Olympics, which the government was trying to promote, is expected to virtually cease.
On the 24th (local time), IOC Chairman Thomas Bach said in a video press conference, “The Executive Committee unanimously approved the recommendation of the Summer Olympics Future Promotion Committee to select such priority negotiation regions.” Accordingly, the IOC will conduct negotiations exclusively with Australia to host the 2032 Olympics.
As a result of this decision by the IOC, it is evaluated that the promotion of the 2032 joint Seoul-Pyongyang Olympic Games, which was an agreement between the inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang in September 2018, became difficult to realize.
Earlier, after the summit, the two Koreas agreed to hold a sports sub-meeting on December 4 of that year and deliver a letter to the IOC stating that they wish to host the Olympics jointly. Since then, the Korean Sports Association selected Seoul as the host city of the domestic Olympics on February 11, 2019, preparing for the host.
However, in February of that year, when the second summit meeting between the two Koreas broke down in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, the dialogue channel between the two Koreas was virtually shut down, and there was no discussion between the two Koreas on this matter.
Nevertheless, the government tried to save the embers of the co-hosting by deciding the ‘2032 Summer Olympics Seoul-Pyongyang Joint Promotion Plan for Seoul-Pyongyang Joint Hosting and Hosting’ on January 21, 2020, but due to COVID-19 (a novel coronavirus infection), North Korea As the door of communication with the outside was locked, no further consultations were made between the two Koreas.
In this regard, an official from the Ministry of Unification, who met with reporters on the 25th, said, “We know that the venue selection method has changed from 2019. (Brisbane’s selection of preferred negotiators) is not a good condition for hosting the Seoul-Pyongyang joint Olympics.” “Because it is not, we will continue to take necessary measures so that we can observe the negotiation process of the IOC and cooperate with related organizations to implement and implement the spirit of agreement between the two Koreas.”
Meanwhile, South and North Korea and Brisbane in Australia, as well as Doha in Qatar, Budapest in Hungary, Rhein-Rur in Germany, Chengdu and Chongqing in China, Jakarta in Indonesia, New Delhi in India, Istanbul in Turkey, and St. Petersburg in Russia participated in hosting the 2032 Summer Olympics.