South Korea Isn’t Closing Door on the North

The door for North Korea to enter the Olympics will stay open until the last minute, and an offer to stage some events in North Korea is still on the table, South Korea’s top Olympic official said Thursday.

North Korea has said it will not participate unless it is a co-host to the Games to be held Sept. 17-Oct. 2 in Seoul. While ruling out co-hosts, the International Olympic Committee said North Korea could stage five of the sports.

“It’s too tough to say if the North Koreans finally will decide to come,” Park Seh Jik said in an interview.

“Certainly there is a chance if they accept the proposal made by the IOC, which is a very generous one and is still on the table.

With time running short, Park said, it would not be easy to move five sports to North Korea, but “the final decision (on when it is too late) must be made by the IOC.”