North Korea's IOC representative, Chang Ung, said Saturday that there is "still work left to be done for the country's participation in next month's Winter Olympic Games in South Korea," according to KYODO. Chang said, "There were things which went well and did not go well," following his discussions of North Korea's plan to join the Games with IOC President Thomas Bach and other officials in Switzerland. Chang added that "the IOC is likely to consider" South Korea's proposal to form a joint women's ice hockey team, and the size of North Korea's delegation to be sent to PyeongChang will be decided by its national Olympic committee. The IOC is scheduled to convene a four-party meeting on Saturday to decide on the participation of North Korean athletes. Before the meeting, South Korea "has proposed working-level talks with North Korea on Monday at the truce village of Panmunjeom" (KYODO, 1/13). In London, Harris & Jung-a reported the possibility of Pyongyang's participation "has helped to boost Olympic ticket sales thanks to a feelgood factor and easing concerns about possible provocations." Some 65% of seats have already been sold, up from just 30% two months ago (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/14). REUTERS' Kim, Kim & Yang reported South Korea's unification ministry said on Saturday that North Korea proposed working-level talks on the prospects of sending its performance "art" group to the Winter Olympics (REUTERS, 1/13).
ROOMS AVAILABLE: In Seoul, Bak Se-hwan reported with the PyeongChang Games "just a few weeks away," the booking rate for accommodations in Gangwon Province remains below 30% "despite the government's effort to crack down on price gouging." As of last week, 16,744 individual rooms have been booked ahead of the Games "out of 67,879 rooms at 4,797 accommodations," according to the PyeongChang Organizing Committee. While rooms in brand hotels and resorts are already booked by the committee, the owners of some local lodgings "still refuse to take reservations from individual travelers," with the average rate for accommodations remaining over 250,000 won ($236.72) per night, "four times more than normal prices" (KOREA HERALD, 1/12).
