‘Not here to win a medal’: N Korean skaters take to Olympic ice

GANGNEUNG, South Korea: North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik appeared oblivious to all the excitement surrounding them at the Winter Olympics as they performed a slick training session to a Beatles classic on Tuesday.

Scores of cameras snapped the moment the pair, looking cool calm and collected, and dressed in black, set foot on the South Korean ice at the Gangneung Arena.

Ryom, who turned 19 last week, and Kim, 25, were among a group of North Korean athletes to arrive in this east coast port on a rare direct flight between the peninsula neighbours, who are still technically at war last week.

The couple’s presence at the 2018 Games was only confirmed following a sudden rapprochement between the two Koreas after tensions reached fever pitch as Pyongyang carried out a series of weapons tests.

As the only North Koreans who met the Olympic qualifying standards, much attention has focused on Ryom and Kim ahead of the Games.

But despite the high stakes, they smiled their way through a series of flips and jumps to Jeff Beck’s version of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life”.

Once completed, a round of applause rippled around the rink.

Then, after exchanging words with their coach, waiting reporters were left empty-handed as they sailed through the mixed zone at a rate of knots, a group of officials following in their wake.

One highly interested observer was Bruno Marcotte, the skating coach the pair trained with in Montreal last year.

— AFP photo Figure skaters RyomTae-Ok (L) and Kim Ju-Sik (R) of North Korea attend a practice session at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 6, 2018 ahead of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.