2 SITES FOR CUP IN 2002 : JAPAN, S. KOREA TO BE CO-HOSTS.

Byline: Tom Timmermann Daily News Deputy Sports Editor 

In a victory for diplomacy over money and history, FIFA took the unprecedented step Friday of making Japan and South Korea co-hosts of the 2002 World Cup.

The countries had engaged in a multimillion-dollar battle to host the tournament, with Japan relying on its economic clout and South Korea relying on its superior soccer pedigree.

But UEFA, Europe's soccer body, fearing the battle between the nations would cause severe harm in the international soccer community, outmuscled FIFA president and staunch Japan backer Joao Havelange and pounded out a deal in Zurich, Switzerland, for the nations to share the matches.

``The co-hosting of the World Cup 2002 is in the spirit of peace and the interest of the game,'' said UEFA president Lennart Johansson.

The battles, however, are not yet over. FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, has set up a work group to decide who will get the coveted championship game and other issues relating to the split hosts.

``Now we have to win the most in upcoming negotiations over who would get which games, such as the opener and championship match,'' said Kim Won-dong, a spokesman for the Korean Football Association.

Reactions were predictably mixed. The Koreans, who have long lived in Japan's shadow, were delighted. The Japanese, who expected to win the right to host the tournament, were dismayed.

``I express deep respects for the FIFA Executive Committee members's decision to let the two countries co-host the event in order to promote harmony in the world soccer community and South Korea-Japan bilateral relations,'' South Korean president Kim Young-Sam said in a telegram sent to the Korean delegation in Zurich.

``Co-hosting the 2002 World Cup will be a chance to further strengthening the friendly bilateral relations with Japan,'' Kim said.

``We had been preparing all our efforts toward an independent candidacy. But we will respect FIFA's direction,'' said Ken Naganuma, head of Japan's organizing committee.

``It's going to be terrible . . . but we have to think positive,'' Yasuhiko Okudera, coach for the professional J-League team JEF United Ichihara, told the Associated Press. ``The two nations are rivals in many ways, not just in soccer. But digging all that up isn't going to do any good.''

``As a practical matter, it was the appropriate diplomatic and political decision,'' said U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg, who was in Zurich for the selection of the United States as host for the 1999 Women's World Cup. ``If it works, it will also turn out to be something quite important. These are two countries who do not have a history of friendship. It will show soccer can bring people together in ways other fields of endeavor can't.''

Havelange and Japan's soccer federation had opposed previous suggestions that the countries co-host the quadrennial championship of international soccer, held in the United States in 1994 and set for France in 1998. South Korean officials were more receptive to the idea. On Friday, the Japanese sent a letter to FIFA's executive committee indicating it was ready to join the Koreans in hosting the tournament. The committee then unanimously approved the decision.

The animosity between the nations goes back centuries. Japan controlled Korea from 1910 to 1945 and Koreans were not allowed to use their own language. During World War II, the Japanese military forced Koreans into front-line labor and sexual servitude. The intense rivalry between the nations was rekindled by the bidding for the World Cup.

In the battle for the 2002 tournament, officials from both countries had criss-crossed the globe trying to woo voters. Japan was the heavy favorite because of its financial power and the presence of several FIFA sponsors there. Japan, however, has never qualified for a World Cup and South Korea stands as the dominant soccer-playing nation in the region.

Japan was prepared to spend $5.2 billion for construction of tournament venues. South Korea, which has more stadiums already built, had budgeted $1.3 billion for construction.

A South Korean official said his country remained interested in playing some matches in North Korea.

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Photo

Photo: Ken Naganuma, left, of Japan and Mong-Joon Chung ofSouth Korea hold World Cup trophy.

Associated Press