The Gangwon-do government of South Korea stated on November 10 that the governor of the province, Cui Wenxun, sent a letter to the DPRK through four international aid organizations to North Korea in August this year, proposing that South Korea and North Korea jointly host the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.
Yonhap News Agency reported on the 10th that Cui Wenxun had said at the beginning of the year that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) believed that there was hope for South Korea and North Korea to co-host the Winter Youth Olympic Games and planned to cooperate with IOC Executive Committee member Gunila Lindbergh.
Discuss this in detail. In September this year, Cui Wenxun also suggested that Minister of Unification Lee In-young convey Gangwon-do’s wishes to co-organize the event with North Korea during the visit of the IOC President to South Korea.
It is reported that the International Olympic Committee specifically considered the possibility of South Korea and North Korea co-hosting this Winter Youth Olympic Games, breaking the convention of using city names and naming the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games “Gangwon”.
In addition to the proposal of the South Korea and North Korea co-hosting, the letter also mentioned various forms of cooperation such as North Korea’s participation in the competition and South Korea and North Korea team formation, aiming to promote North Korea’s participation.
In addition, the South Korean side also proposed plans to hold the opening ceremony in South Korea, the closing ceremony in North Korea, and the plan to host a ski project at the Wonsan Masiryeong Ski Resort in North Korea.
After North Korea unilaterally blasted and demolished the ROK-DPRK joint office in June this year, the exchanges and cooperation between the government and the people of the ROK and the DPRK have reached a deadlock, and there has been no substantial progress so far.
Whether Gangwon’s proposal for cooperation can become a new breakthrough in the relationship between South Korea and North Korea has attracted much attention. In this regard, the Gangwon-do government emphasized that the joint hosting of this Winter Youth Olympic Games between South Korea and North Korea is also the expectation of the International Olympic Committee and will strive for a successful outcome.
