Koreas to seek talks with IOC on joint Olympics bid

SEOUL: The two Koreas on Friday agreed to seek talks with the International Olympics Committee to discuss a joint bid for the 2032 Summer Games, Seoul said, as cross-border reconciliation gathered pace.

The neighbours will send a letter to the IOC expressing an intention to jointly host the Games, according to a joint statement released by Seoul after sports officials from both sides held talks at the border on Friday.

Making a joint bid for the 2032 Games was part of a broader agreement made between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in during their third summit in Pyongyang in September.

To hammer out details, officials from the two nations met at the border truce village of Panmunjom and also agreed to jointly compete at global sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

“The South and the North agreed to... discuss practical matters with the IOC and other sporting associations to form joint teams, starting from the 2019 World Men’s Handball Championship,” it said.