Top continental sports body to hold Asian Games promotional event in Pyongyang

SEOUL, April 18 (Yonhap) -- Asia's top sports body said Wednesday it will hold a promotional event for the continent's top athletic competition in North Korea this spring.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said the 18th Asian Games Fun Run will take place in Pyongyang on May 1. The OCA launched the Fun Run initiative in 2006 and has been holding these 5-kilometer running events around the continent in the build-up to the Asian Games. And this will be the Fun Run's first stop in North Korea.

This year's Asian Games will take place in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.

The OCA said the Fun Run in Pyongyang will start at 10 a.m. on May 1 at Sports Complex on Chongchun Street, and will involve over 200 athletes and students.

The OCA began the Fun Run series for the 2018 Asian Games last December in Pakistan. It will visit over 33 nations from all five zones of the continent.

"We are very happy and honored to be working closely with the national Olympic committee of (North Korea) and the OCA is very much looking forward to visiting Pyongyang again soon," said Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, president of the OCA.

"The Fun Run is proving to be a very popular and enjoyable way of promoting our Asian Games to a young generation of sports enthusiasts while also encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle," Sheikh Ahmad added. "We are sure that the Asian Games Fun Run in Pyongyang on May 1 will be a special occasion for the Olympic movement and a big success for all concerned."

North Korea has been in the global sports spotlight so far in 2018. At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics south of the border in February, the two Koreas marched together in the opening ceremony behind the Korean Unification Flag. They assembled a unified women's hockey team, too.

In March, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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