Koreas to march separately at Pyeongchang Paralympics opening ceremony

North and South Korean athletes will march separately at the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony, organizers said Thursday, despite a recent Olympics-driven detente between the neighbors.

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons said the body was “disappointed” but did not give a reason for the decision. The opening ceremony will take place on Friday.

The two Koreas had marched together at the opening of last month’s Winter Olympics under a neutral “unification flag,” part of an intense rapprochement that also saw the North send hundreds of cheerleaders and leader Kim Jong-un’s sister to the ceremony.

Seoul responded by sending President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys – including his spy chief – to Pyongyang, where leader Kim told them he was willing to discuss denuclearization with the US.

Seoul has since announced plans to hold a historic summit between the North’s leader and Moon. The detente came after tensions had soared last year when Pyongyang dramatically ramped up its weapons program.

The North is sending two crosscountry skiers – Kim Jong-hyon and Ma Yu-chol – to the Winter Paralympics, the first time it has ever sent athletes to the event, and the IPC had offered athletes from the neighbors the chance to march together at the opening ceremony.

But after lengthy negotiations between both countries on Thursday, the IPC said the athletes had decided to parade separately.

“Although we are disappointed, we respect the decision of the two who decided that marching separately would be better for both parties,” Parsons said in a statement.

“I think having North Korea participate in Pyeongchang 2018 is a great step forward for the Paralympic movement.”

He did not give a reason but the North’s athletes may not have been keen to march alongside a defector.

South Korean ice hockey player Choi Kwang-hyouk was born in the North and lost a leg in a train accident as a child, before later defecting to the South.