President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, met with Dr. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, to exchange ideas about the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. It was President Moon’s second meeting with the IOC President, the first being in last July when he visited Korea. At today’s meeting, they agreed to pull together for the success of the PyeongChang Games. They also shared an understanding that a message of peace could be clearly heard through the Olympics given the historical fact that resolutions for ceasefires had, at times, been adopted during the Olympic period.

President Moon explained that while working as an honorary ambassador for the PyeongChang Olympics, he had taken the opportunities of the G20 Summit, the 3rd Eastern Economic Forum and other overseas visits to actively promote the PyeongChang Winter Games.

President Moon also said special events were being prepared, including the unveiling of the Olympic medals, at an evening gathering during his stay in New York, dubbed “PyeongChang 2018 at the Met: Celebrating the Olympic Winter Games for Peace.”

Noting that he was well aware of the concerns of the international community, including the IOC, about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, President Moon asked the IOC to cooperate fully so that the PyeongChang Games can play an important role as an Olympics of peace.

President Moon said that PyeongChang and Korea had made a successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics with earnest efforts after having lost two previous bids. If the international community comes together to make the upcoming Olympics a success at this time when the security situation on the Korean Peninsula is unstable, the President said that it would be possible to relieve anxieties over security and demonstrate that peace and safety prevail in the region.

Saying that North Korean athletes were participating in the preliminary rounds as planned, the IOC President said there was no doubt that they would be able to attend the Olympics if they qualified. However, if they fail to pass the preliminary rounds, President Bach said that it remained to be seen whether they would attend the games even if they received an invitation.

In response, President Moon explained that Korea, as a divided country, hosted the meaningful Summer Olympics in 1988 and helped the greatest number of countries from the East and West to take part in the event, making it an Olympics of peace and harmony. This became a great opportunity to help end the Cold War confrontation in the world. Korea has also hosted numerous international sporting events, including two Asian Games in 1986 and 2014, the 2003 Summer Universiade, the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, under the confrontational situation with North Korea, but it was able to always maintain safety and make them a success. If the draft resolution for an Olympic Truce submitted by Korea to the U.N. General Assembly is adopted as scheduled on November 13 with support from many countries around the world, there would be no worry about safety. If the North participates in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, safety during the Olympics would be guaranteed even more.

The IOC President Bach replied that the draft of the truce resolution has been well received by many countries and that significant progress was being made. The IOC President continued to say that it would be an important factor to ensure success if the winter sports powerhouses would release a message of trust in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 

Stressing the fact that the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in succession after the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, President Moon said he would have close consultations with Japan and China on ways to contribute to peace and development in Northeast Asia through the Olympic games.