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IOC President Thomas Bach speaks during an interview at the Alpensia Resort’s Intercontinental Hotel in Gangwon Province on Jan. 31. (Yonhap News)
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“Through dialogue, people can come to peaceful solutions,” says Thomas Bach
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach repeatedly underscored the image of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics as a “Peace Olympics” under the IOC’s leadership. In a Jan. 31 interview with Yonhap news, Bach was asked whether the IOC had anticipated the divide in South Korean public opinion since South and North Korea’s agreed to form an inter-Korean hockey team and make a joint entrance under the Unification flag at the opening and closing ceremonies. “This has been enthusiastically welcomed by the world that their two national Olympic committees came to this agreement with the IOC to send this great message,” Bach said of the two sides forming a unified women’s hockey team and entering the opening ceremony together. Bach also shared his experience with the past division of Germany into East and West, noting that not everyone was pleased when the two sides attempted to do something together. He also recalled that athletes are both sides participated on a unified team for some team, but that not everyone was happy about it. “There are also generations that have experienced only division and never experienced a unified state. We need to explain to them and look at the future,” he said. “We cannot expect 100% support [for the unified team] from the outset.” For Bach, who experienced Germany’s division as a native of then-West Germany and won a gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, the sports-related exchange between South and North Korea has special significance. Predicting that the exchange would continue after the Pyeongchang Olympics, Bach stressed that the IOC is politically neutral but added that it was “also there to build bridges among people and to enable people to get to know each other.” “Experience shows that when people get to know each other, they can become friends. Then they can understand each other much better. Through dialogue, they can come to peaceful solutions,” he continued. Bach also indicated that he plans to visit North Korea soon, explaining that he had received an invitation during a meeting to discuss the Pyeongchang Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland on Jan. 20. “The invitation has been issued for a convenient date. We'll now speak with the national Olympic committee of [North Korea] what this convenient date can be,” he said. Bach plans to watch the women’s ice hockey preliminary round at 9:10 pm on Feb. 10 and the match between the inter-Korean team and Switzerland. Commenting on a birthday party for a North Korean player by the players on the unified team, he said, “This is exactly what the Olympic Games and Olympic spirit are about.” “"You can see at the beginning that there may have been some skepticism,” he said. “They got to know each other. They were training together, and a couple of days later, they were celebrating [the] birthday in such a way,” he continued. “If someone asks you, 'What's the Olympic spirit?' This is it.” By Kim Chang-keum, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
