Editing 1988 Summer Olympics (section)

==Boycott==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2010}}
[[File:1988 Summer Olympics Seoul boycotting countries blue.png|thumb|370px|Countries boycotting or absent from the 1988 Games are shaded blue.]]
In preparation for the 1988 Olympics, the [[International Olympic Committee]] worked to prevent another Olympic boycott by the [[Eastern Bloc]] as had happened at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in [[Los Angeles]]. This was made more difficult by the lack of diplomatic relations between South Korea and communist countries. This prompted action by the IOC president [[Juan Antonio Samaranch]], who was committed to the participation of these countries. Thus, at the Assembly of National Olympic Committees in Mexico City in November 1984, the "Mexico Declaration"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1984/ore206/ORE206e.pdf |title=Mexico Declaration |website=library.la84.org |date=1984 |access-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826030125/http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1984/ore206/ORE206e.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-26}}</ref> was adopted. The declaration offered support for participation in the 1988 Olympics by all members of the Association of National Olympic Committees. The agreement with the Soviet Union was reached in 1987. After the Los Angeles games, [[East Germany]] had already decided to participate again in Seoul. The IOC also decided that it would send invitations to the 1988 Games itself and did not leave this task to the organizing committee as had been done before. Despite these developments, behind the scenes, the IOC did consider relocating the Games and explored the suitability of [[Munich]] as an alternative.

Another point of conflict was the involvement of [[North Korea]] in hosting the Games, something that had been encouraged by Cuban president [[Fidel Castro]], who called for North Korea to be considered joint host of the Games. As a result, on 8 and 9 January 1986 in [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, the IOC President chaired a meeting of the North and South Korean Olympic Committees. North Korea demanded that eleven of the 23 Olympic sports be carried out on its territory, and also demanded special opening and closing ceremonies. It wanted a joint organizing committee and a united team. The negotiations were continued into another meeting, but were not successful. The IOC did not meet the demands of North Korea and only about half of the desired sporting events were offered to the North. So the focus thereafter was solely on Seoul and South Korea.<ref>[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/nkidp-e-dossier-no-3-sport-and-politics-the-korean-peninsula-north-korea-and-the-1988 "Sport and Politics on the Korean Peninsula – North Korea and the 1988 Seoul Olympics"] NKIDP e-Dossier No. 3. Retrieved 23 April 2012</ref>

The games were boycotted by North Korea and its ally [[Cuba]]. [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]], [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]] and the [[Seychelles]] did not respond to the invitations sent by the [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]].<ref name="FindlingPelle1996"/> [[Nicaragua]] did not participate due to athletic and financial considerations.<ref name="Janofsky"/> [[Third Republic of Madagascar|Madagascar]] had been expected to participate before withdrawing for financial reasons.<ref name="auto"/>