A2. This year Japan and South Korea will co-host the World Cup, the first time it has been held in two countries in its 17-tournament history. In principle the World Cup is held in one country; 13 different nations have hosted the 16 tournaments so far: France, Italy, and Mexico (twice each), and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, England, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Uruguay (once each).

The venue for the seventeenth World Cup was decided six years ago in 1996. FIFA wanted the cup to be played in Asia for the first time, so first Japan announced its candidacy as host. South Korea then put its name forward, and it became a straight contest between these two candidates. At first FIFA was expected to award the event to one country as usual, but both countries lobbied fiercely. The FIFA Executive Committee, which selects host nations, failed to reach a decision, and the idea of the first-ever joint hosting was proposed. Japan and South Korea both accepted this idea.

The 2000 European Championship marked the first time a soccer tournament had been co-hosted by two countries - Holland and Belgium - and FIFA decided the same arrangement could work for the World Cup. But the World Cup is much bigger than the European Championship. Besides which, Holland and Belgium share a land border, while Japan and Korea are separated by the sea and have very different geographies, economies, and political situations. Both countries struggled hard to prepare for the World Cup. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter has said that Japan and South Korea hosting the World Cup together has special meaning.

As a matter of fact, co-hosting has many advantages. Exchange between Japan and South Korea has been boosted, not just in soccer but in politics, culture, and the economic field, too. And hardly a day goes by without a friendly soccer match between Japanese and Korean youth teams. The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan is like a huge experiment, the like of which neither Japanese nor Korean society has experienced before.

Shun'ichiro Okano (right) and Chung Mong-joon, presidents of the Japanese and Korean football associations, respectively, shake hands at the World Cup draw. (Kyodo News)