<Anchor>

The Tokyo Olympics has been postponed for about a year to next year. May is the most promising next year, and it is the first time that the Olympics have been postponed because of an epidemic, not a war.

I am a correspondent to Yoo Sung-jae, Tokyo.

<Reporter>

The International Olympic Committee, the IOC, has officially announced that it will hold the Tokyo Olympics this year until the summer of next year.

The IOC says it has made this decision in consultation with the Japanese side according to information provided by the World Health Organization about the current epidemic, the corona19 infection.

The IOC's decision came through an emergency executive committee meeting held shortly after President Bach's phone talks with key Japanese officials such as Prime Minister Abe last night.

Shortly after the talks, Prime Minister Abe said he had officially proposed to the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for a year, and agreed with Chairman Bach.

[Abe / Japan Prime Minister: I agreed to host the Tokyo Olympic Paralympical Games until the summer of 2021 at the latest.]

About the timing of next year, Reuters reported that the IOC has actually decided to hold it in May.

Even if it will be held next year, the name will remain the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and the torch that arrived in Japan last week will remain intact until next year.

However, the torch delivery service that was scheduled to depart Fukushima tomorrow has been suspended.

In Japan, as soon as the debate began, the 'one year acting', which was mentioned as the most influential alternative, was finalized.