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The IOC member, ITF President, Mr. Chang Ung and The IOC member, WTF President, Dr. Un Yong Kim met at last week's IOC conference in Madrid, Spain.

IOC members Kim Un-yong of the South and Chang Ung of the North reached an agreement in Madrid during the IOC's executive board meeting. North and South Korean IOC members have agreed to inter-Korean sports exchanges, the bid committee feels even more confident about earning the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, in PyeongChang, South Korea.

At a May 15 press conference in Madrid, Mr. Chang said: "If PyeongChang is selected as the host city (for the 2010 Winter Olympics), we will do our best to have the two Koreas not only enter the 2004 Athens Olympics hand-in-hand, but also possibly field a unified team."

Mr. Chang also told reporters that should PyeongChang host the Games, "it will provide a grand opportunity to implement the inter-Korean summit declaration that was designed to help bring peace to the Korean Peninsula."

Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, responded exuberantly at news of the growing inter-Korean sports cooperation. "We are thrilled about that and whenever the IOC can assist, it will assist," he was quoted as saying. "I think it is a very good sign, and I think it is a very symbolic sign of what sport can offer to mankind."

PyeongChang bid committee Chairman Gong Ro-myung emphasized the importance of 2010 Olympics on the peninsula in creating "an opportunity for peace and reunification of the divided Korea."

The news is translated from the Korean JoongAan Daily