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| President Moon Jae-in receives a present from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President Moon Jae-in proposed Monday that Northeast Asian countries co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup to ease tensions in the region.
"If East Asian countries, including the two Koreas, host the World Cup, I think this will help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula as well as the entire region," he said during a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
"I hope this can happen with the 2030 FIFA World Cup."
Moon asked for the FIFA head to help his idea move forward.
Infantino was quoted as saying that he respected Moon's vision for peace through sports and would deliver his message to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip to China.
Moon said football is the most popular sport in Korea and this was behind Korea's co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup with Japan.
The FIFA president paid a courtesy visit to Moon during his trip to Korea for the closing ceremony of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
After arriving in Seoul, Sunday, Infantino met Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu to exchange ideas about the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the development of Korean football.
Infantino left Seoul for Beijing later in the day.
