North 'welcome' at Sth Korea Winter Games

May 17, 2017 - 9:34 AM North Korean athletes will be welcome at the 2018 Winter Olympics in neighbouring South Korea, the local organising committee chief has said.

"In a sporting perspective, we have no problem," Lee Hee Beom, the Pyeongchang 2018 organising committee chief, told dpa in an interview at the world ice hockey championships in Cologne.

"However, as of today, there are still no North Korean athletes qualified."

The only sport where they have a realistic chance of being represented at the Games is in figure skating.

"Should they qualify, they are extremely welcome," Lee said.

Lee was convinced North Korea, unlike with the 1988 Seoul Summer Games or when the country co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, would not use the event for political provocation.

"We trust that we will have a secure Games," the former trade minister said.

Relations between the Koreas have deteriorated recently with the North carrying out a number of missile tests in the region.

Lee maintains internal politics in the south over how to deal with the north will not have an impact.

"The new (South Korean) president Moon Jae In is a great supporter of the Games," he said.

The general population, though, is less than united in its backing.

"To be honest: support has declined since the award in 2011," Lee admitted. "Then it was 92 per cent. Today it lies somewhere lower."

This is put down to the costs and the political situation, even if Lee claims there has recently been a "slight increase" in support.

Source: AAP