BELGRADE, Serbia — The deadly skirmish on the Korean peninsula this week should not hurt South Korea’s chances of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics, the head of the bid said today.

“The South Korean government will ensure that the 2018 Winter Games are safe and secure if we have the honor of being selected as host city in Durban next year,” Cho Yang-ho, chair of the Pyeongchang 2018 bid committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Tensions have increased since the North’s artillery strike Tuesday destroyed large parts of an island in the South, killing two civilians as well as two marines in a major escalation of sporadic skirmishes along the sea border.

“Unfortunately, we have lived with the tensions for 60 years, but it has not hurt our ability to stage big sports events,” Cho said, referring to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and the 2002 World Cup jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan.

Pyeongchang, bidding for a third straight time after narrow defeats for the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, is competing with Munich and Annecy, France. The International Olympic Committee will vote for the host city July 6 at its session in Durban, South Africa.