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11:12, 31-Mar-2018
IOC president meets Kim Jong Un on ‘Olympic participation’
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met DPRK leader Kim Jong Un on Friday and assured him that the IOC would cooperate with Pyongyang to prepare for its participation in the 2020 Tokyo (summer) and 2022 Beijing (winter) Olympic Games, according to a report by the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Bach traveled to Pyongyang on Thursday for a visit that comes after the DPRK's participation in February's PyeongChang Winter Games helped ease inter-Korean relations.
This undated picture released by DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 31, 2018, shows DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) meeting with the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach. /VCG Photo
This undated picture released by DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 31, 2018, shows DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) meeting with the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach. /VCG Photo
He told Kim that the trip was to "express the most heartfelt thanks" to the DPRK leader for helping make the PyeongChang Games “symbolic of peace,” KCNA said on Saturday.
Athletes from the DPRK and ROK marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony in PyeongChang and the two Koreas have experienced a significant thaw in tensions since then.
KCNA said Kim expressed thanks for the IOC's support and for cooperating with the DPRK “regardless of any political climate and conditions.”
He said he hoped that the IOC's relationship with the DPRK's Olympic Committee would continue to develop favorably and expected cooperation in developing and improving sport in his country, the report added.