Seoul Gets a Pledge From Soviets

Kim Chong-ha, president of the (South) Korea National Olympic Committee, said Sunday the Soviet Union and other East European nations have promised to attend the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Kim made the statement upon arriving in Seoul from Sofia, Bulgaria, where he attended a two-day meeting of the 34-member Assn. of European National Olympic Committees (AENOC).

“I have received a firm commitment from NOC (National Olympic Committee) presidents of the Soviet Union, East Germany and other communist nations to take part in the Seoul Games,” Kim told reporters at Kimpo International Airport.

“None of them mentioned the possibility of a boycott,” he added.

Kim said he was told that the number of athletes to be dispatched to the Seoul Olympics would be about 600 from the Soviet Union, 500 from East Germany, 300 from Yugoslavia and 200 from Bulgaria.

Kim ruled out the possibility of a communist-bloc boycott led by North Korea, which is trying to be a co-host to the Seoul Olympics.