Ongoing talks between two international taekwondo bodies on allowing North Koreans to compete in the Olympic Games could wrap up sometime next year, a senior South Korean taekwondo official said on Wednesday.

Choue Chung-won, head of the World Taekwondo Federation, said at a press conference in Seoul that his organization has held talks with the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation on letting athletes compete in each other’s events.

Currently, only the global body is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, while the North’s organization is not recognized by the Olympic committee.

Only the athletes of countries recognized by the WTF are allowed to compete in the Olympics. The two taekwondo bodies also run competitions under different rules.

“After going through several steps, I expect to reach the final conclusion during the first half of next year at the earliest,” Choue said.

“Though our versions of taekwondo may be different as a martial art, I think there is plenty of room for compromise when we look at taekwondo as an Olympic sport.”

Chang Ung, a North Korean IOC member, is the head of the ITF.

The organization was founded in South Korea in 1966, seven years before the global organization, but since the death of its founder, Choi Hong-hi, it has split into three different organizations, each run by Chang, Choi’s son Choi Jung-hwa, and a Vietnamese-Canadian taekwondo master Tran Trieu Quan.

The WTF has viewed Chang’s ITF as its counterpart since Chang is an IOC member.

Choue said he has met Chang several times recently and he expects to meet him again during the World Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, next month to sign a preliminary agreement.

After that, both the global taekwondo organization and the North’s governing body will take their own administrative steps, before entering talks with the IOC, Choue added. (Yonhap News)