Month for N. Korea to decide on events

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 14

Month for N. Korea to decide on events

NZPA-Reuter Lausanne North Korea must decide this month whether to accept an offer to stage two Olympic events in 1988 — table tennis and archery — in return for dropping all other claims to the Seoul summer Games. “This is the final offer,” the International Olympic Committee (1.0. C. President Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch, told a press conference after ending two days of talks with North and South Korea. It was the first time the 1.0. C. had proposed formally that a token gesture be made to share the Games between the two Koreas, since they were awarded to Seoul in 1981. North Korea, backed by Russia and other Communist states, previously demanded that the Games be shared equally by the two countries and threatened to boycott the Games unless its demand was met. “If the proposal is accepted there will be a fourth round of talks to settle organisational and operational aspects of the Games. If not, I am sorry but this is the end,” Samaranch said on completing his third mediation effort on the issue. He set a June 30 deadline for written confirmation by the North and South Korean Olympic Committees that they accepted the deal. The South Korean delegation led by Mr ChongHa Kim praised the proposal but said the final decision rested with the Seoul government. Mr Man-Lip Choy, vicepresident of the South Korean Olympic Committee, told reporters: “We see this as a positive pro-

posal and we endorse it in order to save the Olympic Games.” The North Korean, delegation headed by Mr Yu Sun Kim, said the proposal was a positive step, but official 1.0. C. sources said the delegation was less enthusiastic than the South Korean side. Under the proposal, North Korea would organise and host table tennis and archery. The 100-km (60-mile) cycle road race would start in the North and finish in Seoul, and one of four groups in the soccer competition would, play its matches in the ■> North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The opening and closing ceremonies, which North Korea has insisted on sharing, would be held in Seoul, Samaranch said. In return for the 1.0. C. offer, North Korea would drop all other claims to the Seoul Games and; agree to open its tightly-’ guarded border to “all members of the Olympic , family”. This would include some 30,000 people accredited to the Olympics, such as athletes, trainers, national Olympic committee members and reporters, Samaranch said. The North Korean delegation said this would cause no problem, he added, but the question of permitting spectators to cross into the north would be discussed only after the 1.0. C. offer was accepted by both parties, he said. The Korean peninsula was divided into communist North and captitalist South in 1945 after World War 11. The two countries fought a fierce war from 1950 to 1953.