The series will have been short. Intense, certainly. Pretty well played. But terribly short. Chang Ung, the only North Korean member of the IOC, put an end to the discussion started last week by the South Korean authorities on a possible rapprochement of the two Koreas on the occasion of the Winter Games on Tuesday June 27. PyeongChang 2018. A final and definitive point. A firm and definitive no.
The first step was taken last week by Do Jong Hwan, the new South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Taking advantage of his first visit to the headquarters of the organizing committee for the Winter Games in 2018, he suggested the idea of sharing certain alpine skiing events with neighboring North Korea. The South Korean minister explained that the North Korean alpine ski site at Masikryong had been built to Olympic standards. Planning to organize at least one event of the next Games there would therefore be realistic. A way, he said, of taking advantage of the Olympic event to promote a rapprochement between the two neighbors.
Do Jong Hwan also proposed discussing the creation of a joint women's ice hockey team for the two Koreas. Last Saturday, the new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, took advantage of a surprise visit to the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships, currently being held in Muju, to take up the idea again. He in turn proposed the creation of a joint team. “I believe in the power of sport to lead to peace negotiations,” argued the new head of state, from the center-left party.
The ball was in North Korea's court. But she did not stay in the game for long. Present in Muju as part of the North Korean delegation, Chang Ung unceremoniously sent her out of bounds. Quoted by the Seoul media, he brushed aside the subject, ensuring that the delay before the next Winter Games, scheduled for February 9 to 25, 2018, made any idea of rapprochement unrealistic.
Drawing without restraint on images of the past, Chang Ung brought out the latest example of a unified sports team. It dates from the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships, held in Chiba, Japan. “Managing to form this team required 22 meetings between our two countries,” explained the IOC member. It took us 5 months of negotiations to reach an agreement. »
Same refusal to accept the South Korean proposal to move certain Olympic ski events to the Masikryong resort, opened by the North Korean government near the town of Wonsan. “It is now a little too late” to consider such a scenario, said the North Korean leader. Before concluding: “As an Olympic Games expert, I know it is easy to suggest the idea of sharing an event, or even forming a joint team. It is easy to talk about it, but it is much more difficult to overcome all the practical and concrete problems to achieve it. »
In Seoul, the South Korean authorities recorded North Korea's response without much surprise. There is no question, however, of giving up. Officially, the idea of a rapprochement of the two enemies on the Olympic field has not been abandoned. In fact, it now seems to be a miracle.
