The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People' s Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to jointly bid the host of the 2014 Asian Games, according to ROK'S Incheon City Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, who just returned from Pyongyang visit, on Thursday.

"Incheon and Pyongyang have agreed to bid to co-host the 2014 Asian Games," Ahn was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency upon his arriving at Incheon International Airport from his DPRK trip.

Ahn led a 42-member delegation to the DPRK on Monday for city-level inter-Korean exchange.

"We will submit an application for the joint hosting (of the 2014 Asian Games) to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) by the end of the month," Ahn said. "We will launch a standing joint consultative body with the DPRK to pursue joint bid activities."

The successful bidder will be decided at the OCA's general assembly in December 2006 in Doha, Qatar.
 
The Incheon-Pyongyang bid is set to compete with India, Jordan and Vietnam to host the 2014 Asian Games.

Moreover, during Ahn's visit, the Incheon city delegation also signed a five-point agreement with the DPRK Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which is including the co-host bidding and the participation of DPRK's athletes at the 16th Asian Athletics Tournament to be held in Incheon this September.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2005)