Inter-Korean cooperation on Olympics goes beyond sports

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 27, 2004

Inter-Korean cooperation on Olympics goes beyond sports

The cooperation between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Olympic Games is an "encouraging" news and its significance will "go far beyond sports".

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The cooperation between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Olympic Games is an "encouraging" news and its significance will "go far beyond sports".

The ROK and the DPRK decided Wednesday to march together under a unified flag during the opening ceremony of 2004 Summer Olympicsin Athens and field a joint athletic team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The decision was announced at a joint news conference on the sideline of the assembly in Athens of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

"Joint Korean Olympic team marks progress" in the national reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, said a signed article published by the paper.

"As the ongoing fresh round of six-party talks in Beijing has rekindled a ray of hope to defuse the long-standing nuclear stalemate on the peninsula, inter-Korean relations have also shownpositive changes," said the article.

"The two sides have agreed to co-operate actively to field unified teams for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing," the paper cited Choi Eun-ki, an official at ROK Olympic Committee in Seoul, as saying.

The two sides also agreed to hold bilateral talks for the organization of a joint athletic team and the drafting of its training programs following the end of the Athens Olympics.

"The plan, if it comes to fruition, is indeed inspiring progress in the relationship between the two Koreas," said the article.

The recent detente on the Korean Peninsula has undoubtedly contributed greatly to the historic agreement, it noted.

Since the 2000 summer summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and then ROK leader Kim Dae-jung, the two sides have demonstrated an increasing willingness for national reconciliation, stressed the article.

"The first round of six-way talks in August last year and the ongoing second one, which groups the two Koreas, China, the UnitedStates, Japan and Russia, have driven home the point that reconciliation on the peninsula in a peaceful manner is in the fundamental interests of both sides," it said.

"In return, the agreement will also inevitably contribute greatly to the strengthening of mutual friendship between the two Koreas and further reconciliation."

ROK Olympic Committee Chairman Lee Yun-taek pinned high hopes on the agreement, which is believed to pave the way for the inter-Korean relationship, it added.

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, athletes from the two Koreas marched together behind a single "unified" flag for the first time in the Olympics.

The two sides once formed a single table-tennis team and a youth soccer team for the world championships held in Japan in 1991.

"The organization of a joint Korean athletic team for the first time in the history of the Olympics, the world's largest sporting event, is expected to help achieve new breakthroughs in inter-Korean relations. The significance of such a partnership will go far beyond sports," the author concluded.

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