IOC confident over Korea Games as French committee plays down concerns

Fireworks explode in the sky to mark 200 days before the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in Chuncheon, South Korea, July 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

(Reuters) - France's Olympic Committee on Friday played down security concerns over next year's winter Games in South Korea, as organisers said athletes' wellbeing was their priority and expressed confidence the event would go ahead.

With tensions on the Korean peninsula threatening to bubble over, the government in Paris on Thursday became the first to publicly raise the possibility of skipping the Feb. 9-25 Pyeongchang Olympics on safety grounds.