Korean Olympic Diplomacy at U.N.

(ATR) South Korean President Jae In Moon tells IOC President Thomas Bach that plans are moving forward for a bid for the 2032 Olympics with North Korea.

Moon and Bach met for 30 minutes Tuesday at the United Nations in New York City where both are attending the opening of the General Assembly.

Moon says a 2032 Olympic bid would be part of a long term strategy that includes an inter-Korean team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a bid for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games from Pyeongchang.

"I believe last year's Winter Olympics in PyeongChang was just huge in terms of facilitating dialogue between the Koreas and between the United States and North Korea," Moon is quoted from the opening of the meeting with Bach.

"If the Koreas send a unified team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, then that will also significantly help back up moves for bringing co-prosperity in East Asia," Moon said.

Korean news reports say that Bach welcomed Moon’s proposals and that the IOC would encourage discussions about a possible bid. No comment yet from the IOC.

The 2032 Olympics will be the next summer Olympics to be selected by the IOC. Queensland in Australia and the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany are developing plans for 2032. Indonesia is said to be considering a bid.

Michael Mronz, founder of the Rhine-Ruhr City 2032 Initiative says the plans from Korea will not dissuade the German bid.

"We will compete to win in 2032. That's all we're thinking about at the moment. You are never alone on the starting line. It's about running the marathon with the right tactics so that you have enough power for the sprint at the end of the day," he says.

The Rhine-Ruhr bid still needs the backing of the DOSB, the German NOC. After a string of bid failures from Germany, the DOSB is approaching a new bid with caution. The plans for the bid from Queensland have the support of the Australian Olympic Committee.

In his speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, Moon reminded the delegates of the role the Olympics played in the push towards peace on the Korean peninsula.

"The Olympic Truce resolution adopted in November 2017 by the United Nations gave a big help to Korea once more. In accordance with the resolution, the joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States that had been planned for the spring of 2018 were suspended, which helped create an environment that allowed the North Korean Olympic delegation to come to PyeongChang." Moon is quoted in an official translation.

"The PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, in spite of initial concerns over security, was transformed into a Peace Olympics. It also served as an invaluable opportunity to resume dialogue between the two Koreas. Inter-Korean talks subsequently led to dialogue between the United States and North Korea," said Moon.

Homepage photo: Getty Images

Reported by Ed Hula.