Lawmakers call for Pyongyang's participation in national sporting event

Rep. Cho Bae-sook, right, head of the Party for Democracy and Peace, submits a resolution to call for North Korea's participation in the National Sports Festival to be held in October, to a National Assembly office in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

Dozens of lawmakers have called on the government to invite North Korean athletes to the National Sports Festival in October.

The minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) Wednesday submitted a resolution to call for the North's participation, with all 17 members of the PDP and 14 from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the minor opposition Justice Party signing it.

The annual sporting event is held in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, from Oct. 12 to 18.

“North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics led to not only the success of the Games but also the inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang summits, and the Korean Peninsula situation is moving toward establishing permanent peace and expansion of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation,” the lawmakers said in the resolution.

They said for permanent peace, the people of the two Koreas need to recover cultural similarities through civil exchanges, adding sports is an important and effective tool for this as seen in the case of East and West Germany.

“The Iksan event is the first nationwide sports festival to be held after the inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang summits, so it needs to be expanded into a festival of the whole peninsula for the cooperation and harmony of the two Koreas beyond only the South Korean event,” the resolution reads.

“We urge Seoul and Pyongyang to discuss the issues actively, so the sports festival can become a 'second peace games' following the PyeongChang Games,” said Rep. Cho Bae-sook, head of the PDP. “The National Assembly also pledges support and cooperation for the North's participation.”