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North and South Korea Bid Together for Winter Olympics

When it comes to the world of sport, patriotism and national identity play a huge part in the success of a team ? especially when we are dealing with major world championships and the Olympic Games. But here is a case of the sporting world actually bringing two countries closer together ? South Korea and North Korea have declared that they are jointly seeking to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee, Mr. Jacques Rogge was recently informed by the South and North Korean governments that they wished to propose a joint bid whereby North Korea would back South Korea?s request to hold the games in the Southern city of Pyeongchang. Other contenders to host the 2014 Winter Olympics are Austria (the city of Salzburg) and Russia (the city of Sochi).

Technically still at war since their infamous 1950-1953 conflict, North and South Korea have recently begun seeking ways to bridge decades of mistrust by embarking on joint projects. While their 2014 Winter Olympic bid includes the intention of sending a unified team, they are actually hoping to send a joint team to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 already. The two countries hope to formally launch the bid at the beginning of next year.