In small interactions before Olympics, Korean unity emerges

A lot can be contained in a single selfie. The possibilities for peace between two entire nations, even.

A selfie taken by smiling North and South Korean skaters and posted on Instagram illustrates yet another moment of reconciliation between the rivals, whose decades-long animosities could easily erupt again after the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The South Korean pair of Kam Alex Kang Chan and Kim Kyueun shared the same ice with North Korea's Kim Ju Sik and Ryom Tae Ok for the first time. Before training earlier this week, Kam and Kim used the same locker room and put on skates early so they had spare time together.

Then Kam, 22, proposed taking a selfie together. He called the 25year-old Kim "hyeong," a Korean term used to refer to an elder brother or friend.

The photo recalls a famous 2016 selfie taken by two North and South Korean gymnasts at the Rio Olympics — something that IOC President Thomas Bach described as a "great gesture."

Similar amicable interactions are visible among the North and South Korean female hockey players, who have formed the rivals' first joint Olympic team.

The team of 12 North Koreans and 23 South Koreans was composed last month as the Koreas agreed upon a package of reconciliation steps following a year of heightened nuclear tensions that triggered fears of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Many experts have raised worries about teamwork, and a survey showed a majority of South Korean opposed the joint team. Why? They thought it would deprive South Korean athletes of playing time.

At the height of their Cold War rivalry, sports were often an alternate battlefield between the Koreas. North Korean medalists often ignored South Korean competitors who extended their hands for handshakes at podiums. North Korea also boycotted the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics, both held in Seoul.

Since the Cold War, though, the countries have sometimes used sports as a way to thaw relations.

That was certainly at play Monday when four North and South Korean hockey players who didn't take part in the session took a selfie and laughed together. Also grabbing attention: earlier photos of birthday parties thrown for two North Korean players, and a dictionary aimed at overcoming a linguistic divide.

"Hockey really does bring people together," said the team's Canadian coach, Sarah Murray. "On our team, they are just players. You know ... there is no North Korean or South Korean. They are all wearing the same jersey. We are all on the same team."

On Thursday, in another unusual spectacle, North Korea's national anthem was played and its flag was hoisted alongside an Olympic flag during a boisterous welcoming ceremony for athletes from the North. South Korea has strict security laws that normally ban the playing of the North's anthem and the raising of its flag .

A group of South Korean Bboys, or break dancers, twisted their bodies and flipped relentlessly after walking into the center of a group of North Korean athletes.

A North Korean band played the Korean folk tune "Arirang." North Korean athletes hummed to themselves before starting to dance. South Korean dancers joined them, triggering a barrage of camera flashes.

The feel-good sparks will peak during the opening ceremony on Friday, when athletes of the Koreas will march together under a single "unification flag" to the tune of "Arirang" instead of their respective anthems. It will be the first such joint march since 2007.