Seoul hails IOC on North participation at Winter Olympics

Seoul, Jan 21: South Korea on Sunday hailed the International Olympic Committee's approval of the participation of 22 North Korean athletes in three sports and five disciplines at next month's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Seoul stressed the importance of North Korean representation in the games in laying the foundations of peace between the two countries and the IOC's approval of the Koreas' first joint Olympic team, according to a spokesperson of the presidential office, reports Efe. 

"Forging a unified team is an essential step in the process of having North Korea take part in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics," the spokesperson said, as cited by Yonhap news agency.

Seoul also announced on Sunday that Pyongyang has given the green light for part of the South Korean ski team to train at the North Korean Masikyrong resort before the Games, which will begin on February 9.

In addition to the training, which will take place this week from Tuesday to Thursday, the two Koreas will also hold a joint cultural event at Mount Kumgang, located north of the border on the east coast.

North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympics was approved on Saturday during a four-party meeting, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, between representatives from Pyongyang, Seoul, the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee and the IOC.

The 22 North Korean athletes will compete in five different disciplines including ice hockey, figure skating, short track speedskating, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing.

For the first time in Olympic history, the two Koreas will enter a joint team in the ice hockey event.

A unified Korean team has participated in a sporting event on just two previous occasions: the World Table Tennis Championships in Japan and the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Portugal, both in 1991.