Bach arrived in South Korea’s capital Seoul today with the German due to attend the Closing Ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships here tomorrow.

His visit comes less than a week after South Korean President Moon Jae-in encouraged the participation of North Korea at Pyeongchang 2018 during a speech here at the Opening Ceremony of the World Championships on Saturday (June 24).

Moon, who was elected as the country’s President last month after a cronyism scandal led to Park Geun-hye being impeached, has pledged greater dialogue with the neighbouring country in a bid to reduce tensions between the two nations.

Bach is reported as saying by The Korea Herald that he noted Moon's speech "with great appreciation".

"(Moon's initiative) is in the spirit of the Olympism," Bach told reporters at Incheon International Airport.

"The Olympic Games are about understanding; they're about dialogue and they're about peace as much as they are about competition."

The Olympic gold medal-winning fencer went onto say that the IOC had already invited North Korea to participate at Pyeongchang 2018 back in February.

He hinted that the IOC could give the country some "wild card" entries if none of their athletes qualify for the Games.

"We're supporting their athletes in order to qualify for the Games," Bach added.

However, North Korea's sole IOC member Chang Ung, who has been in South Korea since last Friday (June 23) with officials and athletes from the North Korean-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), has spoken of his doubts about the prospect.

"It's only hypothetical, and many different departments at the IOC are involved," he was reported as saying by Yonhap.

"We should stop this discussion.

"We should only talk about what's practically possible.

"I think it's going to be very difficult."

Chang's visit to South Korea has coincided with the news that Pyeongchang 2018 will discuss plans for North Korea to stage competition during the Games following a suggestion from the Government.

South Korea’s Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan raised the prospect of working with North Korea in an effort to boost friendship.

Do claimed he intends to discuss possible ways to ensure North Korea's participation at Pyeongchang 2018 with the IOC.

One idea was for North Korea to host some skiing competitions at the Games.

According to the Korea Herald, he will discuss the prospect of North Korea hosting competitions at the Masikryong ski resort.

The possibility of a combined Korean women's ice hockey team has also been raised by Do.

When asked about the suggestions, Chang refused to speculate saying it is "not my place to comment on things related to the Pyeongchang Olympics".

In what has been described as a "show of taekwondo unity and sportive goodwill", a North Korean demonstration team from the ITF performed alongside the World Taekwondo Demonstration Team during the Opening Ceremony of the World Championships here and is due to do so again at the Closing Ceremony. 

ITF President Ri Yong-son has acknowledged that there have been talks on bringing the body together with World Taekwondo, claiming "the door is now open". 

World Taekwondo counterpart Chungwon Choue told insidethegames earlier this week that the potential performance of the body’s Demonstration Team at this year’s ITF World Championships will be the main focus of a meeting with Ri in Seoul today

Choue said that a "more detailed conversation" would be held at World Taekwondo’s headquarters over a reciprocal visit to the ITF World Championships in North Korea's capital Pyongyang in September.

World Taekwondo is currently the only taekwondo body recognised by the IOC.

But the ITF, led by North Korean Ri, is the older body having been founded in 1966 by Choi Hong Hi in Seoul.

Following his exile from South Korea by the Park Chung-hee administration, Choi moved to Canada and established the ITF headquarters in Toronto, before moving them to Vienna in 1985.

Chang was elected President of the ITF after Choi's death in 2002, but was replaced by Ri in 2015.

In August 2014, Choue and Chang signed a Protocol of Accord during the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

One year later, a 22-member ITF demonstration team, including 13 North Koreans, performed at the Opening Ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships in Russian city Chelyabinsk.

Chang, Ri, Choue and Bach have all been closely involved in negotiations for continued cooperation.

Ri, Choue and Bach are all due to meet here.