Research On The Role And Influencing Factors Of Sports Diplomacy

As a sociocultural phenomenon,sports has an inseparable connection with politics and diplomacy.Sports diplomacy is a type of formal exchange activities between sovereign states or sovereign states authorized units or individuals,the purpose of which is to realize the country's foreign policy goals and safeguard the national interest.As a universal language,sports appeals to the public.As globalization develops,sports diplomacy has gradually become a new way of conducting diplomacy,for it is diverse,universal and flexible.This study takes the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang as an example for demonstration.In 1963,the DPRK and the ROK started to try sports diplomacy.In 1991,the two sides made a breakthrough of sending a joint team for the first time.In 2000,they achieved another breakthrough that the South and North Korean delegations jointly paraded into the Olympic stadium.Later there was a deadlock of sports diplomacy lasting for 10 years since 2008.However finally in 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang,the two sides resumed sports diplomacy,which had new connotations and breakthroughs.This thesis reviews several stages in the history of South and North Korean sports diplomacy,especially the preparation and development of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.Then the author proceeds to summarize the long-term and unique role of sports diplomacy and illustrate that this role is not one-off.Factors including key players,realities,identification and third-party together played a role in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,which timely served to improve Inter-Korean relations.In addition,the role played by sports diplomacy in the Inter-Korean relations can be applied to other bilateral and even multilateral relations.In the future,there is still great space for sports diplomacy to tap its potential.