Seoul cautious as North Jeolla pushes for joint 2036 Olympic bid

North Jeolla Province recently proposed to the Seoul Metropolitan Government a plan to co-host the 2036 Jeonju Summer Olympics, but the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism put the province's bid on hold at an international review committee meeting on Sept. 16.

North Jeolla Governor Lee Won-taek expected Seoul to respond to the co-hosting proposal after the chuseok holiday, but Seoul has remained cautious, saying the proposal needs to be more concrete. North Jeolla, which made the overture, appears eager — while Seoul, the party being courted, is in no hurry.

North Jeolla Province and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are interpreting the situation differently, according to reporting compiled Monday. A North Jeolla official said in a phone interview that day that Governor Lee and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon had reached a consensus on co-hosting and that working-level discussions were ongoing. "Specific proposals are being exchanged," the official said.

Lee said on Sept. 21 that joining forces with Seoul was "a necessary step both fiscally and in terms of competitiveness in the final bid." He added that he expected Seoul to announce its position on co-hosting the 2036 Olympics once the chuseok holiday ended. "I believe Seoul will ultimately agree to a co-hosting arrangement that benefits both sides," he said. "We sent our basic proposal, so their position will be discussed."

Seoul's account, however, differs from North Jeolla's. A Seoul Metropolitan Government official said the province's proposal "lacks specifics and remains at the idea stage," adding that a more concrete proposal was needed before Seoul could respond. "Co-hosting requires more detailed discussions, starting with the name of the Games," the official said. "They need to come to us with something as specific as when they previously requested the use of our facilities."

North Jeolla Province received permission from Seoul last November to use three venues — Jamsil Sports Complex, Jangchung Arena and Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Both sides have been tight-lipped about what proposals have been exchanged. A Seoul official, however, denied reports that Seoul had demanded the right to host the opening and closing ceremonies, calling the reports "not true."

People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Yeon-uk was briefed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Sept. 17 that the review of the Jeonju Olympic bid had in effect been suspended. The suspension came after North Jeolla dropped its plan for a solo Jeonju bid and shifted course toward a joint Jeonju-Seoul hosting arrangement. Earlier that month, on Sept. 7, Governor Lee met with Mayor Oh to formally request co-hosting.

If a co-hosting deal is reached, the Games would be renamed either the "Jeonju-Seoul Olympics" or the "Seoul-Jeonju Olympics," and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's host-city approval process would have to restart from scratch. The new Games' name and format would likely resemble those of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which closed Wednesday, or the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics held in February.

The possibility that other local governments could enter a fresh bid during that process cannot be ruled out. Conversely, if Seoul rejects the proposed terms, North Jeolla may ask the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for a new review — or abandon the bid altogether.

The two sides also differ on timing. North Jeolla aims to wrap up all the necessary steps before the International Olympic Committee holds its newly established "Strategic Dialogue" in March next year. "We plan to finalize discussions with Seoul before March next year," a North Jeolla official said. The Strategic Dialogue is an intermediate stage the IOC introduced to narrow the field of candidate cities during the host-selection process. The selection of the 2036 Olympic host city will proceed in the order of Continuous Dialogue, Strategic Dialogue — set to begin next year — and then Focused Dialogue.

A Seoul Metropolitan Government official, however, said completing the process by that deadline would be difficult. "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism review and the Ministry of Economy and Finance budget review both need to be concluded first — it won't be easy to finish discussions before March," the official said, adding that the IOC understood that domestic procedures take time.