Anchor: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved a recommendation seeking to allow events for Olympic Games to be hosted in multiple countries. The decision could lead to some events of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics being relocated to another country, such as Japan. Gangwon Province and organizers of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, however, are opposed to the idea.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unanimously approved the 40 recommendations that make up the Olympic Agenda 2020, a strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. The committee reached the decision at its 127th session in Monaco on Monday.
 
Of the 40 recommendations, one proposed shaping the bidding process as an invitation. Under this proposal, the IOC would allow entire sports or disciplines to be organized outside the host city or, in exceptional cases, outside the host country, for reasons relating to geography and sustainability.
 
IOC President Thomas Bach applauded the proposal, saying it was made because it has become difficult for Olympic Games to be held in one nation alone as costs to stage the sports event have recently become astronomical.
 
[Sound bite: Thomas Bach- President, International Olympic Committee, (English)]
“Congratulations Mr. Coates, and all the members of the working group for this outstanding work you have achieved there by really shaping our bidding procedure in a new way and giving it a new philosophy. I think this is a great achievement."
 
With its latest decision, the IOC is likely to add pressure on organizers of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to host some events in another country. Bach had earlier proposed that some of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics’ events be held in Nagano, Japan and that South Korea host some sports events of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

U.S. daily, The Chicago Tribune, said the IOC’s latest decision is expected to affect the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The daily said South Korea would save around 110 billion won in costs if it relocates its sliding venue to another country for the bobsled, luge and skeleton events.
 
Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, meanwhile, said Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda told reporters in Monaco that the committee will review the possibility of hosting some of Pyeongchang Winter Olympics’ event if related talks emerge.

However, organizers of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics say having Japan host some of the events is realistically out of the question, citing public sentiment.
 
Gangwon Province, which is hosting the winter sports event, also expressed opposition to such an idea. The province said if certain events are held in other countries, some of the sports fields that are being built would have to be buried, which would cost more than 100 billion won.
 
Amid the opposition, the government has requested Gangwon Province to reduce costs for building facilities related to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, saying too much money is going into building facilities that might be of little use after the Olympics are over.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.