One year after the successful Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today organised a working meeting to discuss further sports cooperation between the Republic of Korea (KOR) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (PRK).
During this tripartite meeting, the IOC and the two Korean delegations, composed of representatives of their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and governments, discussed the format and pathway for the participation of several unified Korean teams, made up of athletes from both NOCs, at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The parties agreed on the principles guiding such unified Korean teams by sport and discipline. It was decided that participation in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would be based on successful qualification in those sports and disciplines for which both NOCs wish to compete as a unified Korean team.
The IOC agreed to continue studying, in particular with the respective International Federations (IFs), the request of the NOCs of KOR and PRK for unified Korean teams to take part in qualification for the following events: Women's basketball Women's hockey Judo - mixed team event Rowing - women's and men's in the fours (4-), quadruple sculls (4x) and eights (8+) events.
These discussions will be based on the agreement that any unified Korean team will follow the established qualification system established for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. There are still ongoing talks between the NOCs of KOR and PRK and their governments on possible additional unified Korean teams in other sports.
The IOC informed them that it will consider further requests if these are made in due time ahead of the Olympic qualification competitions. The IOC insisted that the athletes in the unified Korean teams will be subject to the same anti-doping testing programme as all other athletes in advance of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
In light of the recent decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to declare the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Anti-Doping Committee non-compliant with the WADA Code, and in the interest of the continuous fight against doping, the IOC will explore the possibility with WADA and other parties of providing additional support to the NOC of PRK to strengthen the fight against doping.
The IOC has been advised by the two Korean NOCs and WADA that there is already an agreement in place with the China Anti-Doping Agency to resolve this situation as soon as possible. All the parties agreed to continue to build on the preliminary results of this working meeting, and to address all outstanding issues in close consultation. Any result will need the approval of the IOC Executive Board, which has its next meeting from 26 to 28 March 2019 in Lausanne.
