 |
| President Moon Jae-in and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach speak during a meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Wednesday (local time). / Yonhap |
By Kim Bo-eun
President Moon Jae-in called for talks on Seoul and Pyongyang to bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics to begin soon, in a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Wednesday (local time).
He sought the IOC's cooperation, to which Bach said "the IOC is always open."
Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed at their summit in Pyongyang last week to seek for the Koreas to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
Moon attributed developments on the Korean Peninsula to North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, referring to the IOC and Bach's role in facilitating this.
Bach stated if the South and North succeed in a bid to host the 2032 Olympics, it would be significant in that efforts that began with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics would be completed with the hosting of the 2032 Summer Olympics.
The two also discussed South and North Korea's joint participation in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Bach said he will discuss with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe means to enable athletes of the South and North to take part in the Olympics, during his visit to Japan in November.
Bidding for the Olympics usually takes place seven years in advance, according to which bidding for the 2032 Summer Olympics would take place in 2025.
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
