SEOUL • Pyongyang may be able to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games with Seoul and make its Masikryong ski resort available for the event, a North Korean official said yesterday, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.

Mr Chang Ung, North Korea's representative on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), made the comments a few days after a South Korean provincial governor said Gangwon province, which is hosting the ongoing 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, was considering a proposal to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games.

The Masikryong ski resort is located on the outskirts of the North's eastern city of Wonsan.

Referring to co-hosting of the Asian Games, Mr Chang told Yonhap in Beijing: "It is sufficiently possible... Since a smaller number of countries participate in the Asian Games, it would be easier than the Olympics."

He added: "The Masikryong ski resort could be used."

Mr Chang, 79, attended the Pyeongchang Olympics and left for Pyongyang days before the Games end on Sunday, citing health reasons, Yonhap reported.

Asked for his assessment of the Pyeongchang Olympics being hosted by the South, the sole North Korean member of the IOC said the Games achieved a "perfect score", adding that they have also been successful in providing a chance to demonstrate harmony among all Korean people.

The Asian Winter Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia. The host of the 2021 event will be decided at the 2018 Asian Summer Games hosted by the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang in August.

REUTERS