IOC calls meeting on North Korea athletes

A meeting on January 20 will determine whether North Korean athletes will be welcomed to participate at next month's Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will host talks on January 20 to discuss key details about North Korea's participation at next month's Winter Olympics in neighbouring South Korea.

The two countries agreed on Tuesday, following their first talks in more than two years, that North Korea would send a large delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

The IOC said the meeting at its headquarters in Lausanne would take a series of "essential decisions" on the North's participation.

These would include the number of names of athletes from the North Korean Olympic Committee as well as questions related to official protocol, including flags, ceremonies and uniform.

The IOC said that its president Thomas Bach would host the talks which would also include the delegations from the national Olympic committees of both countries.

North Korean IOC member Chang Ung spent four hours at the IOC building on Wednesday before leaving in a black car without talking to reporters.

This week's talks took place amid a tense stand-off over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year's Day speech that he was "open to dialogue" with Seoul.

Kim and US President Donald Trump have exchanged fiery barbs in the last year and Trump has warned that the United States would have no choice but to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies.


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Source: AAP


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