(ATR) The Olympic Torch could make a trip into North Korea as part of the relay ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games.
The Korea Herald reports that there have been "consistent talks" within IOC meetings to send the torch over the border during the final stages of the relay in South Korea’s portion of Gangwon Province. Historical boundaries of the province straddle the border between the countries.
The odds that the Olympic Torch Relay will include North Korea appear to be long, however. The Herald report says an improvement in diplomatic relations between the two Koreas is a required first step to any potential agreement.
North Korea’s recent testing of long-range ballistic missiles, which led the United Nations Security Council to unanimously adopt new economic sanctions against Pyongyang last weekend, is the latest obstacle to any potential diplomatic thaw.
South Korean President Jae In Moon has been pushing for improving relations on the peninsula through sports exchanges since being sworn in on May 10.
Moon most recently invited North Korea to participate in the Games in a speech on July 24. The South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism reiterated on Monday that the administration is not giving up on efforts to get North Korean athletes to take part come February.
Currently the only athletes still eligible to qualify from North Korea are a pair of figure skaters.
IOC President Thomas Bach has said he is "interested" in seeing North Korea participate in PyeongChang, but framed his comments diplomatically because of the sensitive nature of the Korean Peninsula.
Written by Gerard Farek
For general comments or questions,click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
