North and South Korea to form joint teams at Asian Games
‘Strengthening sporting ties’
SEOUL, June 18, (AFP): North and South Korea agreed Monday to form unified teams for some sports at the upcoming Asian Games — a move which highlights the rapprochement on the peninsula that began with the Winter Olympics.
At their historic summit in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to joint participation in “international sports events such as the 2018 Asian Games”.
Officials from the two Koreas met at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Monday and reached several agreements aimed at strengthening sporting ties.
“The South and the North agreed to march together at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Asian Games ... and to form joint teams for certain sports,” said a joint SeoulPyongyang statement released by the
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Ariya, of Thailand, finished just one shot back of sister Moriya who closed with a four-under 68 on Sunday. South’s sports ministry.
The games will be held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and in Palembang from Aug 18 to Sept 2.
The athletes from the Koreas will march under a neutral Korean peninsula flag and under the “Korea” name, the statement said.
They will also hold a friendly basketball match — proposed by Kim, a fan of the sport, at his summit with Moon — in Pyongyang on July 4 and another in Seoul in the autumn.
“The South and the North will continue to form unified teams for other international sporting events ... while holding joint training to strengthen inter-Korea cooperation and exchanges,” said the statement.
The two Koreas formed their firstever unified Olympic team — a joint women’s ice hockey squad — for February’s games in the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang.
The idea for a joint team initially sparked a backlash in the South on the grounds that Seoul was depriving its own athletes of the chance to compete.