Olympics chief Thomas Bach on Monday said the Pyeongchang Winter Games brought "real hope" to the divided Korean peninsula and conceded there was no "Plan B" even when nuclear tensions put them under threat. Bach was speaking four days ahead of the opening of the Games, which received a major boost when isolated North Korea ended months of bellicose posturing by agreeing to send a contingent of athletes.
"The Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 have allowed another new beginning on the Korean peninsula," Bach told delegates at the opening ceremony for this week's International Olympic Committee (IOC) session. "They have opened the door for a peaceful dialogue between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North). "The Olympic spirit has brought two sides together that for too long were divided by mistrust and animosity. "The Olympic spirit has brought real hope for a brighter future for everyone on the Korean peninsula."
Bach said it had been a "long and difficult journey" to organise an Olympics in Korea, whose two sides are divided by a heavily fortified border - just 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the Games site - and remain technically at war. Officials from France, Germany and Austria all expressed concerns about sending athletes as tensions spiralled last year, when North Korea fired a series of missile tests and exchanged threats of war with the United States.
But Bach said: "In all the conversations we had, the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 were never put in doubt. On the contrary, we could always feel support."
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