GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Holding the 2014 Winter Olympics in South Korea would help speed the peace process on the divided Korean peninsula and encourage the formation of a unified Korean team, South Korea's president said.
President Roh Moo-hyun arrived in Guatemala on Sunday to push Pyeongchang's Olympic bid in the tight race against Sochi, Russia, and Salzburg, Austria.
Roh was the second national government leader to come for Wednesday's vote by the International Olympic Committee. Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer arrived on Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving Monday following meetings with U.S. President George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine.
"I'm just here to lend my support," Roh said Sunday night in an interview with three international agency reporters. "I'm here as a messenger of the Korean people. I don't believe this is any competition between the three leaders. The essence of this contest is how prepared the cities are. This is not a competition of a political nature."
Pyeongchang finished a close second to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the vote for the 2010 Winter Games four years ago, and is viewed as a strong contender after receiving the best overall review in a technical IOC evaluation report a month ago.
If Pyeongchang wins, Roh said, "the Korean people are ready to go crazy over these Olympic Games."
"If we don't win," he said with a smile, "I personally fear for my safety."
Roh hopes the two Koreas will form a unified team if the Olympics are held in Pyeongchang. The Koreas marched together in the Olympic opening ceremonies in Sydney, Athens and Turin, but competed with separate teams. The two sides are still negotiating for a possible joint team at next year's Beijing Games.
"We both want a unified team, there is no doubt," Roh said. "We are still negotiating and talking about how to compose the team. What is encouraging is an unprecedented level of trust between the two Koreas. If we get to compose a unified team it will be a very big present not only to Korea, but to all others participating in the games."
The two Koreas have made little headway on the proposed unified team since their agreement to discuss the plan in 2005. South Korea has insisted athletes be selected based on performance, while the North demands equal representation. The two sides last met in February.
Roh said talks on resolving the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program were making progress.
"We're confident the North Korea issue will be resolved in a very smooth manner," he said. "When that happens, there will be peace, a start of peace on the Korean peninsula, and with that coming, a mood of reconciliation and cooperation will be greatly accelerated.
"By the time Pyeongchang hosts the games, if its wins the bid, the inter-Korean relations will have developed on the basis of a very sound stability. In the process of hosting the 2014 games, we will have greater room for co-operation with North Korea and this will be very much in line with the Olympic spirit, which emphasizes peace and coexistence."
North Korea has endorsed the Pyeongchang bid. Pyeongchang is located in the Gangwon province — the only Korean province to be divided by the separation of the peninsula.
Roh said the 1988 Seoul Summer Games were a catalyst for social and economic transformation in South Korea, and that Pyeongchang could further accelerate the process and foster the spread of winter sports across Asia.
He downplayed suggestions that South Korea might be hard pressed to win hosting rights for another major event so soon after securing the 2001 world track and field championships and 2014 Asian Games.
Those decisions, he said, showed that international sports bodies "have a high level of trust and confidence" in Korea's organizational abilities.
