Koreas to jointly march, field joint women's hockey team for Olympics

TOKYO, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- South and North Korea agreed Wednesday to field a joint women's ice hockey team for the Winter Olympics and march together under a "unified Korea" flag at the opening ceremony, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The North will send a 230-member cheering squad and a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team to the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea, according to a joint statement issued after a working-level meeting at the border village of Panmunjom.
The two sides also agreed to conduct joint training of skiers in the North. As for the Paralympics scheduled for March 9-18, the North promised to send a 150-member delegation including athletes and cheerleaders.
The outcome is expected to be discussed at the International Olympic Committee's meeting with officials from the Koreas slated for Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland. The sweeping agreement marked a major breakthrough after years of frosty ties between the two countries and last year's heightened tensions over the North's nuclear and missile provocations.
The third inter-Korean talks in a week came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare offer of rapprochement to Seoul in his New Year's Day speech, hinting at the North's willingness to participate in the first Winter Olympics hosted by the South.
Last Tuesday, the two sides held their first formal talks in two years, in which the North agreed to dispatch a delegation of athletes, high-ranking officials, art performers and others. The North said in a working-level meeting on Monday that it will send a 140-member art troupe to perform in the South. (end) mk.mt