Koreas may field joint women’s ice hockey team at Olympics

North and South Korea have agreed in principle to field a joint women’s ice hockey team during next month’s Olympics in South Korea, and have relayed their position to the International Olympic Committee.

A South Korean Sports Ministry spokesman confirmed yesterday that the two sides had agreed, saying they have been discussing the make-up of a unified women’s hockey team since last year.

The spokesman, Hwang Seong Un, said the matter would be discussed on Saturday when officials from the two Koreas and the IOC meet at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A joint team would require IOC approval.

If realized, it would be the Koreas’ first unified Olympic team.

Meanwhile South Korea says North Korea will send a 140-member orchestra to the South during next month’s Winter Olympics.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry says the North’s orchestra dispatch was part of agreements the two Koreas reached during Monday’s talks on Olympic cooperation.

A ministry statement says that the North Korean orchestra will perform in Seoul and the eastern South Korean city of Gangneung.

North Korea agreed last week to send an Olympic delegation that includes officials, athletes, cheerleaders and an art troupe in a conciliatory gesture amid months of heightened tensions over its expanding nuclear and missile programs.

A South Korea official says the two Koreas would parade under a joint “unification flag” during the opening ceremony of next month’s Olympics in the South if they conduct a joint march.

South Korea’s Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan made the comments during a meeting with lawmakers yesterday. He says a joint march is one of the items to be discussed during next Saturday’s meeting.