President Moon Jae-in (left) meets with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 19.
By Lee Hana Photos = Cheong Wa Dae Facebook
President Moon Jae-in met with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at U.N. headquarters on Sept. 19. During the meeting, President Moon stressed that the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be an "Olympics of Peace."
"Given the current state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula, the world coming together as one on the stage of the PyeongChang Olympics will help to quiet security concerns and establish peace and stability across the region," said Moon, asking for the IOC's full cooperation.
President Moon Jae-in (center) meets with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 19 to discuss the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
"Korea, a divided nation, successfully hosted the summer Olympics in 1988. By bringing together a record number of countries from the Eastern Bloc and the West during the Cold War, we were able to stage an Olympics of peace and harmony. The Seoul 1988 Olympics played an instrumental role in breaking down barriers created by the Cold War," said Moon.
"South Korea has submitted a draft resolution for an Olympic Truce to start just before the Games. This resolution will be put to a vote at the U.N. General Assembly on Nov. 13. If the resolution is adopted, with support from many countries, there will no longer be any reason to worry about security. If North Korea participates in the Olympics, safety will be guaranteed even further," he said.
"The draft of the Olympic Truce submitted by South Korea has been received favorably by many countries, and we are making significant progress. Getting countries that are dominant in winter sports to express their faith in the PyeongChang Olympics is one way to ensure the success of the upcoming event," said Bach. "Furthermore, recruiting Korean sports stars to collaborate with overseas athletes to promote PyeongChang will help, not only to get the Olympic Truce adopted, but to build excitement around the world," he added.