hankyoreh

Choi Moon-soon

The governor of Gangwon Province announced that he welcomes North Korea’s decision to send a large-scale delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and plans to do whatever it can to accommodate its members.

“With the participation of the North Korean athletes, the Pyeongchang Olympics will be a festival embodying peace and reconciliation,” Gov. Choi Moon-soon said in a morning press conference on Jan. 10 in the Gangwon Provincial Office briefing room.

“Bringing South and North Korea together in Gangwon, the world’s only divided province, the Pyeongchang Olympics will be a symbol for world peace,” Choi declared, adding that the province would make “thorough preparations to lay the groundwork for a peace Olympics so that the North Korean team can participate comfortably in the Games.”

As a solution to the visiting North Korean delegation’s transportation and accommodation needs, Choi proposed sending a 20,000- to 40,000-ton cruise ship to the port at Wonsan to transport the delegation members to Sokcho. The delegation members would also be able to use the vessel for accommodations. North Korean previously used the ferry Mangyongbong to transport and accommodate a cheering squad during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

Choi also responded to claims that providing amenities to North Korea could conflict with UN Security Council sanctions. “The money would not be given directly to North Korea, but to our own cruise ship and other facilities, so there are no concerns,” he said, adding that “sports and culture are not subject to UN sanctions.”

Choi went on to call for a greater role from local governments in inter-Korean interchange.

“Private interchange efforts like the international youth football tournament pursued by Gangwon Province have served to get dialogue started between government authorities,” he argued.

“Apart from security-related areas, local governments need to be given the autonomy to allow for various exchange efforts with North Korea,” he said.

During the 3rd Ari Sports Cup, an international youth football tournament held on Dec. 18 in the Chinese city of Kunming, Choi met with North Korea’s Ryomyong football team director Mun Ung, a vice minister-level official, to request participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics by North Korean athletes, cheering squads, and culture and performance artists.

By Park Soo-hyeok, Gangwon correspondent

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