SEOUL-- South Korea will continue efforts for sports exchanges with North Korea and progress in the Korea peace process, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday in response to the North's suspension from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided Wednesday to suspend the North from the Beijing Olympics as a punishment for refusing to participate in the recent Tokyo Games over COVID-19 concerns.

The Moon administration has expressed hope for a breakthrough in its push for improving inter-Korean ties on the occasion of the Beijing games scheduled to kick off in early February next year.

Asked whether Cheong Wa Dae still thinks that there is a chance, a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters, "As the leaders of the two Koreas agreed (in their summit talks), the government will continue to seek ways to move forward sports exchanges and peace on the Korean Peninsula through various opportunities."

The official added there were no further comments on what she described as a "measure taken by the IOC for a member country." She was speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.

Cheong Wa Dae maintained a cautious stance as well with regard to a street parade of North Korea's "paramilitary and public security forces." The event was held in Pyongyang in the early hours of Thursday to mark the 73rd founding anniversary of the nation.

"A precise analysis is under way amid close coordination between the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States," the official said without elaborating.

Source: Yonhap News Agency