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The International Olympic Committee has asked South and North Korea to join hands and march into the 2008 Beijing Olympics' opening ceremonies together.
A high-ranking South Korean official said Tuesday on condition of anonymity that IOC President Jacques Rogge recently made the request to South Korea's Olympic Committee. The official added that the government in Seoul has welcomed the request. The Olympic body is also known to have asked the same of the North, but its response is not yet known.
The two Koreas marched together at the previous two Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004, and government officials here say they will contact the North and let it know that South Korea is willing to continue the custom.
With North Korea handing in its nuclear declaration and destroying a cooling tower at its main nuclear complex, there has recently been tangible progress on the North's nuclear issue. Further hopes come as the United States takes steps to strike North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, a move that one North Korean paper welcomed, saying the U.S. is dropping its hostile policies toward the North.
Seoul officials are also welcoming improving relations between Washington and Pyongyang, saying it has positive implications for South-North Korean relations. But some view the situation differently. The communist regime recently turned its back on South Korea's offer of food aid, one sign that smoother ties with the U.S. does not necessarily add up to better relations here on the Korean peninsula. Especially considering that under the new conservative South Korean government cross-border relations have not exactly enjoyed smooth sailing.
As the Lee Myung-bak administration pursues a tougher policy toward the North, some fear the fruits of years of engagement efforts by the previous liberal governments could be at risk. But the government maintains it is leaving the door open for dialogue with the North.
Arirang News
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