INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Wednesday dodged questions over reports that some Tokyo 2020 events could be held in South Korea.

    The IOC is considering staging rowing and canoeing in the South Korean city of Chungju, according to Japanese media, as they try to slash a Tokyo 2020 budget, which has skyrocketed to four times that of the initial bid.

    But Bach was hurriedly ushered out of a scheduled press briefing after answering prepared questions from Tokyo Olympic officials.

    Tokyo organizers have lurched from one crisis to another since beating Madrid and Istanbul in the race to host the Games, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe forced to rip up initial plans for the Olympic Stadium amid public anger at its US$2 billion price tag.

    The Tokyo Olympic logo was then scrapped after accusations of plagiarism before French prosecutors launched an investigation into US$2 million in payments, which they suspect were made to help Tokyo secure the Games.(SD-Agencies)