Voice of America (VOA) reported Thursday that North Korea’s International Olympic Committee member Chang Ung said he hopes the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will serve as a beginning for sports exchange between the two Koreas.

Chang, who heads one of the three International Taekwondo Federations, met with a VOA reporter in Pyongyang who is covering the 17th ITF Taekwondo World Championships 2011. According to VOA, Chang said inter-Korean sports exchange is currently difficult.

Chang also touched on the likelihood of a South-North joint hosting of the Pyeongchang Olympics, saying relations between South and North Korea must first improve.

He added that even if inter-Korean relations do improve, there would be numerous obstacles to holding the Olympics together as the IOC is not supporting a joint hosting.

Chang also said that recently, culture and sports exchange between North Korea and the U.S. have been rare. He said he hopes exchanges similar to North Korea’s Taekwondo team holding exhibition matches on the U.S. East Coast in June would increase.