hankyoreh

North Korea's only member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flew here Friday to discuss a possible merger of the South Korean and North Korean-led world governing bodies of Korea's traditional martial art taekwondo.

Chang Ung, concurrently head of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), arrived on a direct flight from the North's capital Pyongyang.

"I have just come here to celebrate the inauguration of the ITF office in Seoul," Chang told reporters as he went out of the airport terminal. "Please don't push me. I have much time to talk because I will stay here for three days."

Regarding the prospects for the South Korean city of Pyeongchang's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, he said, "As an IOC member who can influence the bid process, I was not allowed to give any comment or detail," Chang said. "The IOC's disciplinary committee will watch my every move during the next three days."

The provincial city in Gangwon Province is competing with two other candidate cities to host the Olympiad. The host city will be decided at an IOC general assembly in Guatemala on July 4.

Chang and his 47-member delegation, including 30 North Korean taekwondo athletes, will travel Saturday to Hoban Gymnasium in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers east of Seoul, for a demonstration of the sport, officials of the ITF Korea Corp. said.

Chang is to hold a news conference late Saturday.

It is the first visit to South Korea by Chang since he attended the Daegu Universiade in August 2003.

Chang will visit the headquarters of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), run by South Korean officials, in southern Seoul at noon on Sunday for a meeting with Choue Chung-won, head of the federation.

Chang and Choue signed an agreement in Doha, Qatar in December to form a body to discuss the administrative and technical merger of the two world governing groups. Officials from the two bodies held the first meeting of the coordinating commission in Beijing, China, for two days from March 31.

The WTF was inaugurated in Seoul in 1973 and became an official umbrella organization of the IOC with a membership of 179 national associations, while the ITF was launched seven years earlier, also in the South Korean capital.

ITF founder Choi Hong-hi later immigrated to Canada and named Chang as his successor in 2002 prior to his death.

Seoul, April 6 (Yonhap News)