After announcing back in September that they would pursue a joint bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics, North and South Korea requested unified 2020 teams during Friday discussions with the International Olympic Committee. According to CNN, officials from both countries met with the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they asked if they could send unified teams to Tokyo 2020 for several different sports.

North and South Korea are technically still at war, although the countries' leaders — Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in — announced last year that they were preparing to announce a formal end to the Korean War. During last year's Winter Olympics, the North and South Korean teams marched together under the Korean Unification flag in a gesture of unity. According to Vox, this decision — though not unprecedented — was still quite rare.

On Friday, the IOC announced that North and South Korean officials had requested to unify their teams in women's basketball, women's field hockey, judo, and rowing, per CNN. Officials from both countries also raised the possibility of jointly hosting the 2032 Olympics, an effort the IOC reportedly views in a positive light.

“We are taking note that both are very much interested in having some joined actions in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a joined march and some unified teams in different sports,” IOC President Thomas Bach said following Friday's discussions, per Reuters.

In 2018, just weeks before the South Korea women's ice hockey team prepared to compete at the Winter Olympics, North and South Korea announced that 12 North Koreans would be joining the team's ranks.

More to come... </s> LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb 15 (Reuters) - North Korea and South Korea want a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and have requested to have some unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

South and North Korean sports and government officials met with the IOC in Lausanne, buoyed by the role the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics played in easing tensions between the two countries, amid initial planning for a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics.

The two nations had marched together at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang for the first time since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. They had also fielded a unified women's ice hockey team.

"We are taking note that both are very much interested in having some joined actions in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a joined march and some unified teams in different sports," IOC President Thomas Bach said.

The IOC said the two countries had officially requested to enter joint teams in the qualifying process for four sports -- women's basketball, women's hockey, the judo mixed team event and some men's and women's rowing teams.

Among the points of discussion at the Lausanne meeting was also a potential 2032 Summer Olympics joint bid by North and South Korea, and Bach praised them for proceeding with it.

"We think this is a great symbol of the Olympic spirit. It is a great symbol again of the unifying power of the Olympic Games," Bach said.

"Sport will continue to build bridges and demonstrate the unifying power of the Olympic Games. Therefore, we warmly welcome the historic initiative of the two Koreas to put forward a joint Korean candidature for the Olympic Games 2032," he added.

Relations between the nations greatly improved last year, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in meeting his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un at three different summits.

North Korea has for years pursued nuclear and missile programs in defiance of U.N. sanctions but the neighbors moved to thaw relations in 2018.

"South Korea greatly hopes to jointly host the Olympic Games 2032 with North Korea, and will work to successfully bid for the Games together," Do Jong-hwan, South Korean sports and culture minister said.

"The leaders of the two Koreas agreed that they intended to host the Olympic Games in 2032. I am very moved and excited by the prospect of bidding together with South Korea," he said.

"We agree with the concepts put forward by South Korea, and ask for the support of President Bach and the IOC to jointly host the Olympic Games in Seoul and Pyongyang."

The IOC usually awards the Olympics seven years in advance. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann Editing by Mark Heinrich and Toby Davis) </s> North Korea and South Korea plan joint march, unified teams for Tokyo 2020

SALVATORE DI NOLFI/AFP/Getty Images IOC President Thomas Bach alongside the sports ministers of the North and South Korea at a meeting to discuss a bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland -- Feb. 15 2019.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- North Korea and South Korea are interested in a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as well as fielding some unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

South and North Korean officials met with the IOC in Lausanne, buoyed by the role the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics played in easing tensions between the two countries.

The two nations had marched together at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang for the first time since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. They had also fielded a unified women's ice hockey team.

"Following the bilateral conversations we had yesterday, we are taking note that both are very much interested in having some joined actions in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a joined march and some unified teams in different sports," IOC President Thomas Bach said at the start of the meeting.

Among the points of discussion at the Lausanne meeting was a potential 2032 Summer Olympics joint bid by North and South Korea, and Bach said both countries had expressed interest in proceeding.

"We think this is a great symbol of the Olympic spirit. It is a great symbol again of the unifying power of the Olympic Games," Bach said.

Relations between the nations greatly improved last year, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in meeting his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un at three different summits.

North Korea has for years pursued nuclear and missile programs in defiance of U.N. sanctions but the neighbours moved to thaw relations in 2018. </s> The IOC has confirmed North Korea and South Korea have outlined their desire to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

North Korea and South Korea want to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games and have requested permission for unified teams to enter qualification for Tokyo 2020.

The IOC confirmed on Friday that the two countries have declared their desire to host the Games together, although the candidature process for 2032 is yet to begin.

IOC president Thomas Bach said of the initiative: “The discussions at the working meeting today are one further step showing how sport can once more make a contribution to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world.

“We have a good foundation to build on and make further progress ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Sport will continue to build bridges and demonstrate the unifying power of the Olympic Games.

“Therefore, we warmly welcome the historic initiative of the two Koreas to put forward a joint Korean candidature for the Olympic Games 2032.”

Delegations from North Korea and South Korea marched together at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang last year and joined forces for a women’s ice hockey team.

The two Koreas hope to enter unified teams into the Tokyo 2020 qualification process for women’s basketball, women’s hockey, the judo mixed team event and in three rowing events apiece for men and women.

“There are still ongoing talks between the [National Olympic Committees] of [South Korea] and [North Korea] and their governments on possible additional unified Korean teams in other sports,” read an IOC statement.

“The IOC informed them that it will consider further requests if these are made in due time ahead of the Olympic qualification competitions.” </s> SEOUL (AFP) - North and South Korea will bid jointly for the 2032 Olympics, they announced on Wednesday (Sept 19), in an ambitious plan built on hopes of deepening a diplomatic thaw catalysed by this year's Winter Games in the South.

The idea, which would require an unprecedented level of cooperation and mutual trust on the long-divided Korean peninsula, was included in a joint statement issued after a Pyongyang summit between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in.

"The South and North agreed to actively participate jointly in international competitions including the 2020 Summer Olympics and to cooperate in bidding for the South-North joint hosting of the 2032 Summer Olympics," the statement said.

No other details were given.

The North's decision to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February triggered a dramatic diplomatic turnaround on the peninsula this year.

It came after tensions mounted the previous year, with the North carrying out multiple missile launches and its most powerful nuclear test to date, and Mr Kim trading personal insults and threats of war with US President Donald Trump.

The February games saw athletes from the two Koreas march together at the opening ceremony behind a unification flag showing an undivided peninsula.

The two countries also formed a unified women's ice hockey side - a move initially controversial in the South, with critics saying that Seoul was depriving its own citizens of a chance to play on the Olympic stage.

Mr Kim sent his sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, to Pyeongchang as his personal envoy, and the two leaders have since met three times as part of an ongoing diplomatic rapprochement.

The two Koreas have continued their sports diplomacy, forming joint teams for the ITTF world table tennis championships and several events at the Asian Games in Indonesia, securing one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

They have also held friendly basketball matches.

Olympics chief Thomas Bach said this month he was open to talks with the two Koreas about marching and competing together at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

It is a marked contrast to the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, which Pyongyang boycotted after it demanded co-hosting rights and negotiations fell apart over how to share the events.

North Korea's participation in hosting the Games, which includes thousands of athletes from around the world and an even larger number of spectators, would be a watershed event requiring a degree of openness and financial muscle now lacking in the isolated and impoverished country.

It would also force an extraordinary level of cooperation between two Cold War foes that have no formal avenues for regular contact and are still technically at war.

The first hint of a possible joint bid came last week when South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the country's sports minister Do Jong-hwan as saying Seoul planned to propose the idea during this week's Pyongyang meeting.

For the 2030 Fifa World Cup, Mr Do said South Korea planned to propose a co-hosted tournament involving China, Japan and the two Koreas.

"In this way, we could maintain the current momentum for peace and expand peace on the Korean peninsula to the whole region," Mr Do said. </s> South Korea has chosen its capital, Seoul, for its bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, which it hopes to jointly host with rival North Korea as a peace gesture.

South Korea’s Olympic committee announced the decision after a meeting Monday in which Seoul received 34 of 49 votes, edging out the southern port city of Busan.

The Koreas are expected to officially inform the International Olympic Committee of their intent to co-host the 2032 Olympics on Friday during a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. While North Korea has yet to formally announce its candidate city for the Olympics, its capital, Pyongyang, is seen as the obvious choice because it’s much more developed than other North Korean cities.

While Monday’s decision by the South Korean Olympic committee needs approval from the country’s sports and finance ministries, that is seen as a formality since the government has described the 2032 Games as a crucial opportunity to stabilize relations with North Korea.

Following a meeting of their leaders in September, the rival Koreas agreed to pursue a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics and also send combined teams to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, among other steps to promote reconciliation.

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“Seoul will cooperate with the national government so that the 2032 Summer Olympics become something more than a sports festival — an opportunity to change the fate of the Korean Peninsula,” Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said in a statement.

Currently it would be extremely difficult to host the Olympics in North Korea because of heavy U.S.-led sanctions against the North which are unlikely to be removed until it takes firmer steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons. There continue to be doubts whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is willing to deal away an arsenal he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival.

There is also declining public support among South Koreans for hosting large sports events due to worries over huge costs.

Following a provocative series of nuclear and missile tests in 2017, Kim met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in three times last year and also held a historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in June in Singapore. But the summits failed to produce much substance regarding how and when North Korea would denuclearize, and negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang seemed to be reaching a stalemate before they agreed to a second Trump-Kim meeting on Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

For some South Koreans, it’s mind-boggling that the Koreas are even talking about jointly hosting the Olympics. North Korea boycotted the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics, both held in Seoul, and relations dramatically worsened ahead of the Seoul Olympics with the North’s bombing of a South Korean passenger jet that killed all 115 aboard in November 1987.

The Koreas have often used sports to facilitate diplomacy. North Korea sent hundreds of people to the Winter Olympics in South Korea’s Pyeongchang in February last year, including Kim’s sister, who conveyed her desire for an inter-Korean summit following tensions over North Korea’s weapons tests.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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North Korea and South Korea are interested in a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as well as fielding some unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: North Korea and South Korea are interested in a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as well as fielding some unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

South and North Korean officials met with the IOC in Lausanne, buoyed by the role the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics played in easing tensions between the two countries.

The two nations had marched together at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang for the first time since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. They had also fielded a unified women's ice hockey team.

"Following the bilateral conversations we had yesterday, we are taking note that both are very much interested in having some joined actions in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a joined march and some unified teams in different sports," IOC President Thomas Bach said at the start of the meeting.

Among the points of discussion at the Lausanne meeting was a potential 2032 Summer Olympics joint bid by North and South Korea, and Bach said both countries had expressed interest in proceeding.

"We think this is a great symbol of the Olympic spirit. It is a great symbol again of the unifying power of the Olympic Games," Bach said.

Relations between the nations greatly improved last year, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in meeting his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un at three different summits.

North Korea has for years pursued nuclear and missile programs in defiance of U.N. sanctions but the neighbours moved to thaw relations in 2018. </s> LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb 15 (Reuters) - North Korea and South Korea are interested in a joint march at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as well as fielding unified teams in different sports, the president of the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

"Following the bilateral conversations we had yesterday, we are taking note that both are very much interested in having some joined actions in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a joined march and some unified teams in different sports," Bach said at the start of a meeting between the IOC and North and South Korean officials in Lausanne. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann Editing by Mark Heinrich) </s> North and South Korea have agreed to seek to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

The announcement was made at a news conference held Wednesday in Pyongyang, North Korea. That revelation was part of a much larger development toward peace on the Korean peninsula, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to new steps to denuclearize.

As far as the 2032 Summer Olympics is concerned, the two Korean leaders gave no details of which cities might host events or how advanced the plans were.

If the two nations move forward with a bid for the 2032 Games, it could bring the Summer Olympics to the Korean peninsula for the first time since 1988, when Seoul was host. Of course, the 2018 Winter Olympics were hosted by South Korea in PyeongChang, where athletes from North and South Korea formed a unified Olympic team.

Tokyo (2020), Paris (2024) and Los Angeles (2028) are slated to host the next three Summer Olympics. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Germany has already announced plans for a multi-city bid for 2032, as has Brisbane, Australia. The India Olympic Committee has also indicated its interest in hosting the 2032 Games.
Following the announcement of the launch of a joint bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics, North Korea and South Korea announce that they are also interested in marching jointly at the 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as fielding unified teams in some sports.