[Iclickart]
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is known to be an ardent fan of American professional basketball, hopes to activate inter-Korean sports exchanges, starting with a basketball match, that would be discussed at talks Monday between North and South Korean sports officials.
Sports could work as an important stepping stone to foster inter-Korean exchanges, Jeon Choong-ryul, secretary general of the (South) Korean Sport and Olympic Committee, told reporters before attending inter-Korean sports talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.
"Everyone knows sports has become a turning point in inter-Korean reconciliation as seen in Pyeongchang," he said, referring to an inter-Korean thaw brought by North Korea's participation in this year's Winter Games in South Korea.
The meeting in Panmunjom covered sports exchanges such as a joint march and the creation of a unified team for the Asian Games in Indonesia in August and inter-Korean basketball matches proposed by Kim during his April 27 summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Inter-Korean basketball matches were held alternately in Pyongyang and Seoul in 1999, but they have been suspended since the last match in Pyongyang in October 2003.
While American music and culture have been strictly controlled as a decadent foreign evil in North Korea, basketball was an exception especially after Kim took office in late 2011.
Kim attended a Swiss boarding school in Berne in the mid-1990s, where classmates have often spoken of him obsessed with basketball. One friend recalled Kim had a room filled with basketball memorabilia. Illustrating his love of basketball, Kim has invited former National Basketball Association player Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang several times.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
