Meeting of nat'l Olympic bodies opens in Seoul

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- A meeting of more than 200 national Olympic bodies opened in Seoul on Wednesday, with hundreds of officials on hand to discuss pressing issues in sports and to review preparations for upcoming Olympic Games. The Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul is the site of the 26th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). South Korea hosted the fifth ANOC meeting in 1986 and the 15th edition in 2006. It is now the first three-time host of the key ANOC session. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach is among some 800 international sports leaders and officials in attendance. Organizers said out of 206 national Olympic committees (NOCs) registered with the IOC, 204 are taking part in this week's meetings, with North Korea and Guatemala being the exceptions. Seventeen of the 204 nations, including Britain, Ukraine and Latvia, are attending virtually through online streaming. Latvia had earlier threatened to boycott the ANOC meeting if representatives from Russia and Belarus were allow to attend. This was in protest to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and other European nations, such as Denmark, Estonia and Finland, joined Latvia in asking the ANOC Executive Committee to ban Russia and Belarus. During the General Assembly, organizers of the next three Olympics Games -- the 2024 Paris Summer Games, the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics and the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games -- will update ANOC members on their preparations. The ANOC Awards ceremony, recognizing achievements from the most recent Olympic Games, is scheduled for later Wednesday. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol delivered a keynote speech during the opening ceremony, putting focus on efforts to "infuse the spirit of freedom and solidarity" in sports. Yoon noted serious threats to world peace that exist today and said, "We must overcome these challenges through the Olympic spirit of advancement of humanity and promotion of world peace." "The international community must gather its strength so that the efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Association of National Olympic Committees to bring freedom and solidarity through sports can continue into the future," the president added. jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)