Ryu Seung-min, head of the South Korean Olympic body, will meet with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach next month to express South Korea's drive to host the 2036 Summer Games.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Thursday that Ryu will meet with Bach at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 8.
Ryu, elected as KSOC president in January, was an IOC member from 2016 to 2024, in his capacity as a member of the Athletes' Commission voted on by fellow Olympians.
"In his meeting, KSOC President Ryu will strongly express South Korea's intent to host the 2036 Summer Olympics," the KSOC said in a statement.
North Jeolla Province, located in the southwestern part of the country, was chosen over Seoul on Feb. 28 as the South Korean candidate for the 2036 Olympic bid. The KSOC said officials from the North Jeolla provincial government and the central government will accompany Ryu to Switzerland.
"At the meeting, Ryu will highlight that South Korea's preparations for the bid are going smoothly and that North Jeolla is putting together a bid strategy in line with the IOC's push for sustainable operations," the KSOC added. "He will also point out that South Korea can play an important role in realizing the value of peace and acceptance through sport, and that South Korea will work closely with the IOC going forward."
A task force put together for the bid, made up of officials from the government, the KSOC and North Jeolla Province, held its first meeting on March 12.
Seoul hosted the only Summer Games in South Korea so far in 1988. South Korea will try to become the seventh country -- joining the United States, France, Britain, Australia, Japan and Greece -- to stage multiple Summer Olympics. The country held the Winter Olympics in 2018 in the eastern province of Gangwon, with PyeongChang holding snow and sliding events and Gangneung hosting ice events.
The IOC has done away with a direct vote by its members with multiple candidate cities in the race.
Instead, the IOC's Future Host Commission screens potential host cities and makes a recommendation to the IOC Executive Board, which then decides whether to open a "targeted dialogue" with one or more "preferred hosts."
During the targeted dialogue phase, each preferred host must fill out the IOC's Future Host Questionnaire and provide guarantees that back up its bid submission.
The Executive Board will decide whether to put one or more preferred hosts up for a vote by IOC members.
Seoul pursued a joint bid with Pyongyang for the 2032 Summer Olympics but the IOC chose Brisbane as its partner for the targeted dialogue in February 2021. Brisbane then garnered support from 72 out of 80 IOC delegates in a yes-or-no vote to win the bid five months later. (Yonhap)
