Reluctant mediator : Hong Kong, the two Koreas and the Tokyo Olympics

Brian BRIDGES

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

Abstract

This essay examines the complex, and ultimately unsuccessful, negotiations between North and South Korea, undertaken with the encouragement of the International Olympic Committee during 1962–63 to form a united Korean team to participate in the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. In particular, it focuses on the role of Hong Kong, chosen as a ‘neutral’ site for the two Korean delegations to meet. It shows how the IOC's optimism for a ‘sporting’ solution was to founder on continued mutual suspicion and recriminations between the two Koreas and how the Hong Kong government's reluctance to get involved, the US political intervention, and North Korean participation in the GANEFO Games were all to complicate the process.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)375-391
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Journal of the History of Sport
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2007

Bibliographical note

The author received the financial support of the Lingnan University Social Sciences Programme, project DS05A2, which enabled him to visit the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne as part of the research for this article.

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