Winter Olympics would improve inter-Korean ties - S. Korean Pres.

TOKYO, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday that North Korea's participation in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games here would help improve inter-Korean ties, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"We have great expectations for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. I believe we could not ask for more than the PyeongChang Olympic Games being a chance to begin establishing peace on our Korean Peninsula," the president said during his first visit to the National Training Center in south of Seoul.
"I am confident North Korea's participation will help promote the PyeongChang Olympics," said Moon. His remarks came as officials from the two Koreas met on the South Korean side of the joint security area Panmunjeom to discuss details of North Korea's participation in the quadrennial event, which will be held from February 9-25 in PyeongChang, a South Korean city located some 180 kilometers east of the capital.
The North was said to have proposed sending a 230-member cheering squad, in addition to its athletic delegation, to the games. Officials here have said the two Koreas are discussing the possibility of forming a unified women's hockey team, as well as having all their athletes march together at the opening ceremony.
The move came as North Korea is under tough international sanctions over its nuclear and missile provocations. It conducted its sixth nuclear test and fired three intercontinental ballistic missiles last year. (end) mk.hb