Letter from the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Korean Olympic Organizing Committee (SLOOC), in reference to the Letter sent by a South Korean Student Organization Threatening Violence during the 1988 Seoul Olympics

COMITE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIQUE
CHATEU DE VIDY, 1007 LAUSANNE, SUISSE

CITIUS ALTIUS FORTIUS


THE PRESIDENT Mr. Cho Chin Hyung
Director
Security Services
SLOOC
Olympic Center
SEOUL

BY HAND Seoul, 10th September 1988
Ref. No. 544 /88/dol


Re : Security at the Olympic Games

Dear Mr. Cho,

Please find attached copy of a letter from a “Mudungsan Death-Defying Corps” addressed to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

I should be most grateful for your urgent consideration and opinion regarding this matter.


Yours sincerely,

Juan Antonio SAMARANCH

(stamped confidential)

TO THE INTERNTIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

The Olympic, in an intrinsic duty, is a festival of the world peace and a festival of the unity of the entire mankind. But unfortunately, the 24th Olympic Game has reduced to a battered game for a political ambition of the Authorities of United States and Republic of Korea.

Now there a grave situation, which would perpetuate the division of our nation, is being created due to an enforcement of the separate host of the Olympic.

We have taken the situation se[r]iously and proposed the South-North students talks – respectively on 10th of June and 15th of August – for a discussion about the co-host of the Olympic and South-North students exchange.

But Authorities have deprived of our desire the make the Olympic a festival of a unity as they suppressed the talks bloodily. In this time we condemn the schemes of all forces to hamper the students talks as anti-mankind act, anti-national act fostering the division of the Korean nation.

The separate host of Seoul Olympic is a wick which mounts the confrontation and antagonism of South and North and the Olympic flame is a flame of disgrace of the fellows who seek permanent division of Korean peninsular.

We regard the act as a defiance of our voice of maintain the co-host of the Olympic and we also regard the act of taking part in Seoul Olympic as an unforgiveable debasement, a plain challenge.

On behalf of a million students of ROK and the souls lie buried in Mangwoldong of Mudung Mountain in Kwangju, Mudungsan Death-defying Corps warms IOC as below.

1. Before opening the Olympic, announce a statement expressing a support of the struggle of Korean students who maintain the co-host of the Olympic and demanding Korean Authorities to stop suppression.

2. Reveal the fact that some persons in IOC have received a bribe of a colossal sum which were given to them for realization of Seoul Olympic host.

If IOC ignores the warning and opens the Olympic, it should take the entire responsibility for the consequences incurred for this reason.

We are death-defying corps ready for death.

You should speculate so that the bloodshed in Munich Olympic will not do over again in Seoul.

We express a hope that IOC will think much of the sorrow of the separation of our 60 millions brethren and the pain of the division and will not connive at the act to perpetuate the division of Korean peninsular.

Yours Sincerely

August 1988