The chief of the Olympic Council of Asia said Tuesday he is hoping to see an increased number of unified North and South Korea teams competing in world sports events, working toward the goal of having them turn out together at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

"We are now working with them and we have meetings with them," OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said in an interview with Kyodo News at a hotel in Jakarta. "This is our task...We are working with this direction."

The head of Asian sport's governing body also said he will "100 percent" support the idea of the divided Koreas co-hosting the Asian Winter Games in 2021.

Explaining that South Korea's Gangwon Province, where the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics took place, is a candidate to host the next Winter Asian Games, he said, "We have to continue to support any peace in the world."

The remarks from the influential 55-year-old president from Kuwait, who has been at the helm of the OCA since 1991, came as the rapprochement between North and South Korea has accelerated from the beginning of this year. The United States, however, is still struggling to convince Pyongyang to take concrete steps toward denuclearization.

South Korean media reported Monday that the governor of the northeast border province, during his trip earlier this month to North Korea, proposed that the two countries co-host Asia's largest winter sports event and Pyongyang responded positively to the idea.

The two Koreas have turned to sports diplomacy to facilitate dialogue, and for the first time, they fielded combined teams at the Winter Olympics and the Asian Games, which formally opened Saturday in Indonesia.

(Athletes of North and South Korea march together at the Asian Games opening ceremoy)

Also a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee, Sheikh Ahmad said he is proud that Asia is the frontrunner in introducing new sports events to an international audience.

He said he is happy that five new sports, including karate and sport climbing, were added to the Tokyo Olympic program, and is looking forward to welcoming esports, or competitive video gaming, as a medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The head of the council that oversees the 2018 Asian Games that runs through Sept. 2 said that Hangzhou, where IT giant and major Olympic sponsor Alibaba is headquartered, will be a perfect place to promote esports.

"Our job is to prepare a good environment...for those who love this kind of event to represent their country and to have the chance to have gold medals and raise their flags as equal as any other athletes," Sheikh Ahmad said.

He added that if the esports competition succeeds in the Chinese city, it will certainly also be part of the 2026 Asian Games to be co-hosted by Japan's Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya.

Asked about the four Japanese basketball players who were expelled from the Japanese delegation for buying sex in Jakarta, Sheikh Ahmad said he regards the scandal as a "human mistake, no more and no less."

He said he has no concerns about the governance of Japanese sports, although the misconduct of the basketball players another in a growing list of incidents to have plagued the country's sports community, with two years to go before the Tokyo Olympics.

"Japan is always a symbol for us for governance. Japan is always a symbol for us to follow the regulations and the law," he said. "It was brave to (announce the punishment) and the OCA followed the situation."

But the president cautioned that Japan could damage its good image if this kind of behavior is seen to become a regular occurrence.