Seoul has been chosen as the South Korean candidate city for the joint Korean bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was announced on Monday.
The South Korean capital was selected ahead of Busan by the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee at its National Training Center in Jincheon.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, an offer from Busan – the country’s second-largest city – to be a co-candidate with Seoul was rejected at the meeting.
Seoul, which hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1988, then received 34 of the 49 votes.
The KSOC carried out inspection visits to each of the two prospective candidate cities last month before putting the selection to a vote.
It is likely Seoul will bid alongside North Korea’s capital Pyongyang as the two countries aim to capitalise on the softening of tensions in the region following last year’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
Officials from both countries are due to meet the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne on Friday (February 15) to submit a letter of intent to bid.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to launch a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics following a summit in Pyongyang in September.
The decision marked the latest show of sporting diplomacy between the two countries, which are still technically at war.
North Korea competed at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in the South in February after a surprise announcement on New Year’s Day from Kim, who confirmed the secretive state would participate.
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