Speaker
Description
This paper concerns the interface amongst sport, diplomacy and geopolitics at the recent Olympic Games in East Asia, namely PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022. With reference to international relations theories such as realism, liberalism and institutionalism, this study attempts to conceptualise a global sport-mega event as a political space where various types of inter-state communication, connection and contention occur. In this respect, this investigation focuses on North and South Korean relations, Korea-Japan rivalries, US-China tensions being represented through the three Olympics in East Asia. Taiwan questions at these competitions will also be considered. Furthermore, it assesses the capacity of the IOC as an institution whose goals include the facilitation of international peace and harmony through sport. The East Asian trio initially promised a partnership concerning the organisation of the sport mega-event in the region. Yet, when the curtain was raised, the three sporting occasions turned out to be a place for geopolitical struggles and diplomatic rows. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic made foreign relations surrounding the Olympics more fragile and volatile. Consequently, the spirit of the partnership between the Asian hosts nearly dissipated in the stadium and the symptom of a clash rapidly emerged inside the Olympic venues at the last stage of the East Asian Olympic era. While the IOC and event organisers promulgate the liberalist assumption that sport can promote peace and cooperation between nations, the actual delivery of the Games seemingly demonstrates the realist worldview which stresses preservation and maximisation of national interests as the first principle of statecraft including this Olympic diplomacy.
