North Korea Lists Demands but Says It May Be Willing to Compromise

The secretary general of North Korea’s Olympic Committee detailed terms Thursday for his country’s participation in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but said North Korea is willing to compromise.

If stalled negotiations resume between the North Korean and South Korean Olympic committees, Chang Un said his country will ask to play host to the archery, table tennis and soccer tournaments along with women’s volleyball and two other complete sports.

He said North Korea also will ask for its own organizing committee, separate opening and closing ceremonies, a share of the television rights fees and unlimited border access.

With the International Olympic Committee acting as an intermediary, the South Koreans offered last June to allow North Korea to play host to archery, table tennis, one round of the soccer tournament, a 100-kilometer cycling road race and women’s volleyball.

Until North Korea accepts that proposal, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said negotiations will not continue on the other issues.

“The IOC said first we have to settle the number of sports, but that is not the most important issue,” Chang said at the completion of the 93rd IOC session. “All the issues are linked together. It is a package discussion, not one by one.

“If they will make a concession to us on one issue, I will make a concession to them on another. This is the way of international talks. The IOC said we have to decide first the number of sports. But if we make a concession on that issue and they do not make a concession on another, then what do we do?”

Emphasizing that he does not hold the IOC responsible for the impasse, Chang said, “The problem is between us and the South Korean Olympic Committee.”

Chang said North Korea has asked for a Feb. 19 meeting but has received no response from South Korea.

In a press conference Thursday, Samaranch said he will respond within the next two weeks to a letter from Cuban President Fidel Castro, who has offered to act as a mediator between the IOC and North Korea. Cuban officials announced last month their athletes will not attend the Seoul Games unless North Korea is satisfied.

“We are keeping the doors open, but I would say that time is against us,” Samaranch said.

Chang also expressed pessimism, but he said facilities will be completed in June that would enable North Korea to stage the events it has requested. The opening ceremony in Seoul is scheduled for Sept. 17.

Chang reacted angrily to comments made Wednesday by Roh Jae Won, South Korea’s ambassador to Canada. Roh said North Korea poses a threat to South Korea in the months before the Seoul Games, either in terms of “war or a war-like act or state-sponsored terrorism.”

He used as an example the Korean Air Boeing 707 that was destroyed near Burma on Nov. 29, killing all 115 people aboard. A woman told South Korean officials that she and a male companion planted the bomb on orders from a North Korean government official in an effort to convince nations they should not participate in Seoul. North Korea has denied involvement.

“That is slander toward our country,” Chang said. “He lost his face. He doesn’t understand what the Olympic movement is about. He is an idiot.”