South Korea's football association yesterday said it wanted talks with China and Japan about a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with North Korea, an initiative aimed at easing tensions in the region.

The South's new President Moon Jae-In first proposed the ambitious idea to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino in a meeting Monday, although Korean officials acknowledge China is likely to be lukewarm.

"We want to start discussions with China and Japan on this idea," a spokesman for the Korea Football Association (KFA) Cho Jun-Heon told AFP. South Korea and Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup but a four-way split is unheard of, let alone between two countries - the Koreas - who are technically still at war. KFA president Chung Mong-Gyu told reporters that the North - which does not have formal diplomatic ties with Japan or South Korea - would likely be keen to host if the other countries all agreed to participate.