S. Korea again urges N.Korea to participate in 2018 Winter Olympics

Seoul July 24 (IANS) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday once again urged North Korea to participate in the Winter Olympic Games his country is hosting early next year.

"We don t need to hurriedly expect or not to be pessimistic about (the North Korea s participation). And we will leave the door open until the very last minute " Moon said at an event in the country s eastern county of Pyeongchang to promote the Winter Olympics according to the presidential Blue House.

The Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in February next year reports Xinhua news agency.

The new South Korean leader who took office on May 10 urged Pyongyang once again to attend the winter sports event about a month after his offer to form a unified team with North Korea in the upcoming event.

Moon said the only thing left for North Korea s participation was its own decision noting that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had opened the door to North Korea s participation.

North Korea has been mum about Seoul s dialogue offers last week to stop all hostile acts near the military demarcation line (MDL) and hold the reunion of families of the two countries who have been separated since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice.

--IANS
tri/vm