The Olympic Committee president of Japan, Tsunekazu Takeda and the South Korean Olympic Committee president Kim Jung-Haeng have agreed to put the diplomatic issues between the two countries aside and will work together in order to make a success of the Olympic Games, which will be held in both countries.
The cooperation agreement was reached when Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 summer Games on September 7, 2013. The 2018 Winter Games are scheduled to be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, which is located 180 kilometers east of Seoul. The two officials agreed that they will support each other during the games’ organization.
Takeda said that he told the Korean Olympic Committee chief Kim Jung-Haeng that they must cooperate as “an Asian era will go on from Pyeongchang to Tokyo”. He added, “We are in a difficult time but we have maintained good relations in sports”.
In recent times, ties between the two countries were strained by the legacy of Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula during the first half of the 20th century. The two countries have also agreed on the sovereignty of a pair of islets. Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe plans to appoint Sports Minister Hakubun Shimomura as the minister for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Photo Credits: Yahoo
