Koreas to march under one flag at Olympics opening ceremony

The sweeping agreement came as officials from the two Koreas met at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss the North's participation in next month's Winter Games in the South.

The North will send a 230-member cheering squad and a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team to the South, according to a joint statement.

The North's delegation will use a western land route that leads to the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.

The agreement marked a major breakthrough in years of frosty ties between the two countries and in last year's heightened tensions over the North's nuclear and missile provocations.

The two Koreas also agreed to hold a joint cultural event at Mount Kumgang on the North Korean east coast before the opening ceremony and to conduct a joint training among ski athletes at Masikryong Ski Resort in the North.

The outcome of Wednesday's talks is expected to be discussed at the International Olympic Committee's meeting with officials from the Koreas slated for Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland.The move came as the two Koreas had high-level talks last Tuesday, in which the North agreed to send athletes, ranking officials, art performers and others to the Olympics.

The North's leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare offer of rapprochement to Seoul in his New Year's Day speech following a series of nuclear and missile tests last year.

Liberal President Moon Jae-in said during his meeting with a number of Olympic athletes Wednesday that North Korea's participation in the Games will help improve long-stalled ties between the two Koreas.

Moon hopes that better inter-Korean relations will pave the way for the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and for a broader dialogue between the United States and the North.

The president, who took office in May last year, vowed to seek both dialogue and sanctions in handling North Korea. He has said that putting sanctions and pressure on the North is aimed at prodding Pyongyang into dialogue.

The talks coincided with a meeting of foreign ministers of 20 countries in Canada where they voiced support for inter-Korean dialogue, expressing hope that it will pave the way for easing tensions.

They also stressed the importance of diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue of the North's nuclear weapons development and agreed to take tougher sanctions on Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

The South's government is carefully reviewing ways to greet the North's Olympic delegation in a way that does not violate multilayered sanctions on the communist regime.

Under U.N. sanctions, the South can't offer cash directly to the North when it supports delegates' accommodation expenses.

Sea travel could be in violation of South Korea's unilateral sanctions that ban the entry to South Korea of any vessel that has sailed to North Korea within the past 12 months.

It is highly likely that North Koreans would travel to the South by land. The North asked the South on Monday to allow its art troupe to cross the border via Panmunjom for concerts during the Olympics.

 

Another sticking point is the North's possible inclusion in its delegation of high-ranking officials blacklisted by U.N. sanctions or by Seoul's unilateral punitive actions.