Seoul, Korea, October 20, 2022: The Mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, has indicated that the Korean capital is ready to host another Olympic Games.
Addressing a dinner hosted by Seoul for the 26th ANOC General Assembly on Thursday evening, Mayor Oh said he would have discussions with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee over submitting an official bid to host the Olympic Games.
Mayor Oh said Seoul’s hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games had proved to be the catalyst for development and becoming a renowned global city – and that the Korean capital was ready to step up again.
“I really hope that Seoul will be the next host city of the Olympic Games,” said Mayor Oh, referring to the 2036 Olympic Games after Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 which have all been awarded.
“I will discuss this further with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.”
The Seoul Mayor said that Korea had proved its commitment to developing sport in the country by hosting the Olympic Games in 1988.
He added that he was very grateful to the IOC for being granted the Olympic Games and admitted that, at first, Korea focused on the hardware whereas the invisible strength of the Olympic movement lay in the intangible assets and values of peace and harmony.
Earlier in the day, the IOC reported that 10 National Olympic Committees from four continents had already expressed a strong interest in hosting future Olympic Games, after Brisbane 2032.
Following Mayor Oh on to the stage at the dinner on Thursday, IOC President Thomas Bach said Korea had all the “great ingredients” to hosting a successful Olympic Games in Seoul such as experience, enthusiasm of the people and great hospitality.
“All these would make the candidature a strong one,” said the IOC President, who added that his close bond with Korea began as an athlete representative on the steering committee for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and later for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.