2032 Olympics: North and South Korea will bid jointly
What's the story
In a positive development, for two nations facing a diplomatic struggle, North and South Korea are planning to make a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics. The Korean peninsula region has been a center of dispute for these two countries. This idea was floated during Pyongyang summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in.
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North and South coming together
According to AFP, a statement issued in the Pyongyang summit read, "The South and North agreed to actively participate jointly in international competitions including the 2020 Summer Olympics and to cooperate in bidding for the South-North joint hosting of the 2032 Summer Olympics."
Winter Olympics
North Korea earlier participated in Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
Earlier, North Korea had taken a positive step when it decided to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, in February, this year. This decision saw a diplomatic turnaround for the two countries surrounding the peninsula region. The Games saw athletes from both nations marching in an unified manner. They carried an unification flag to propagate the need of an undivided peninsula.
Sports
Sports diplomacy gaining momentum between both nations
Sports diplomacy has been one of the underlying themes with both nations forming joint teams for the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships. The same thing was also seen during the Asian Games. Besides these major events, friendly basketball matches were also held. Olympics chief Thomas Bach wants to see the two nations marching and competing together in the upcoming 2020 Japan Olympics.
Information
World Cup 2030 joint bid is also on the agenda
Meanwhile, South Korea is also planning to submit a bid to co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030 alongside North Korea, China and Japan. The reason behind this is to extend peace across the entire region.