NK shrugs aside use of sport for reconciliation

Chang Ung, second row right, a North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), greets children who performed taekwondo during the closing ceremony of the 2017 Muju WTF Taekwondo Championships in the namesake southwestern county on June 30. Standing to his right is IOC President Thomas Bach. WTF President Chou Chung-won, second row left, also joined the closing ceremony. / Yonhap

'Ping-Pong Diplomacy' not replicable for 2 Koreas

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Just as the exchange of table tennis players ultimately paved the way for diplomatic normalization between the United States and China during the Cold War, sports can help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

This idea of sports diplomacy seems to have fascinated President Moon Jae-in. His recent speech indicates he views the forthcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics as an opportunity to achieve inter-Korean reconciliation through the exchange of athletes. Specifically, Moon and his aides regard women’s ice hockey as a possible sport event where the two Koreas can possibly team up to form a unified team. The Moon government played the ice hockey card to facilitate dialogue between the two Koreas.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow of the Department of Unification Strategy Studies at the Sejong Institute, said the so-called “Ping Pong Diplomacy” between the United States and China in the 1970s is not something that can be replicated today between the two Koreas because of the salient differences in political circumstances facing the nations involved.

“Back in the 1970s, the United States and China had some common ground before the Ping Pong Diplomacy,” he said. “The United States wanted to detach China from the influence of the then Soviet Union, whereas China also wanted to reduce its reliance on the Soviet Union. So their common interests were met and table tennis kind of played a facilitating role.”

Compared to those two countries, Cheong said, there’s little room for the two Koreas to reach an agreement on a unified team ahead of the Winter Olympics because of the political and military confrontations. “Sports can play a role in changing the atmosphere a little bit but it can’t dramatically change the nature of inter-Korean relations because the differences are so huge.”

President Moon’s push for the initiative to co-host the Olympics met an obstacle from the start. North Korea has shown no appetite for the idea of using sports to terminate the diplomatic standoff.

Chang Ung, a North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who visited the southwestern county of Muju last week for the World Taekwondo championships, brushed off the South Korean leader’s proposal to co-host the Winter Olympics.

“If sports are related to politics, things are going to be very complicated,” the North Korean official told reporters when asked to answer his country’s position about President Moon’s suggestion. “Prior to cooperation in sports, the two Koreas need a strong supportive political base.”

Chang said the proposal for the two Koreas to form a unified team for the Winter Olympics would be possible only when inter-Korean relations are good. “So you want to know exactly why it is so difficult for us to accept the South Korean idea? I encourage you to consult with historians because history has the answer,” he said.

During a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo championships on June 24, President Moon proposed his idea of sports diplomacy.

“I’d like to experience again the glorious moments that the two Koreas had in 1991 when the unified table tennis team won the world championships and the two Koreas’ unified youth football team played during the FIFA World Youth Championship,” he said.

After a series of inter-Korean talks in 1991, the two Koreas agreed to form a unified team for the World Table Tennis Championships held in April in Chiba, Japan. The Korean women’s team clinched a gold medal there for the first time ever, defeating the then world’s No. 1 China after a tug of war game. Encouraged by that success, the two Koreas also sent a unified football team to the FIFA World Youth Championships held in June in Portugal.

“I also would like to feel again the touching moment of the Sydney Olympics back in 2000 when South and North Korean delegations received applause from the audience there as they entered the Olympic venue together for the opening ceremony,” said the President.

Moon encouraged North Korea to participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, stressing if their participation is realized, this would help realize the value of the Olympics.

His remarks came days after Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan proposed a joint South-North Korea women’s ice hockey team to work for an Olympic medal during the Winter Games by mentioning North Korea’s Masikryong Ski resort as a possible venue for some alpine sports events.

North Korea was not excited about the Moon government’s initiative to use sports to put the brakes on mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula following the North’s test firings of missiles and conducting nuclear tests.

Chang said back in 1991 the South and North Korean officials met 22 times before they finally agreed on a unified table tennis team for the World Table Tennis Championships.

His remarks seem to indicate a unified team is the byproduct of a lengthy political process as the two sides need to narrow their gap regarding each and every related issue and thus it can come only when the two Koreas have good relations.