1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
ChristmasSyriaGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Sports

Koreas to launch bid to host 2032 Olympics

November 2, 2018

North and South Korea have agreed to formally inform the International Olympic Committee of their intent to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics. The decision is part of ongoing reconciliation efforts between the countries.

https://p.dw.com/p/37YRQ
Nordkorea Sport-Diplomatie
Image: Getty Images/AFP/KCNA

The two Koreas agreed to send a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they said in a joint statement issued on Friday.

Read more: Two Koreas pledge to boost ties

During a summit in September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to pursue a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics and send combined teams to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

The 2032 Olympics host is expected to be elected by the IOC in 2025. So far the Games have never been co-hosted but a joint Korean bid is expected to be welcomed by the IOC. Indonesia and India have also expressed an interest in hosting the Summer Games in 2032.

"Plan to mark meaningful anniversaries"

After meeting at the border between the two countries, Korean sports officials also agreed to send a combined team to the World Handball Championship in January. It comes as part of a promise to "actively participate" in international sports events hosted by each other and organize more friendly competitions between them.

"The plan is to organize friendly competitions marking meaningful anniversaries between the South and North, for example the first anniversaries of the (April) inter-Korean summit and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics," said South Korean Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang.

Athletes from North and South Korea marched under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics earlier this year.

jt/pfd (AP, dpa)