North Korean delegates walk across the truce village of Panmunjom for inter-Korean talks. [Photo by Namgung Jin-ung = timeid@ajunews.com]
The meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom was the second of its kind since North Korea agreed to send athletes, high-ranking officials, cheerleaders, performing artists, taekwondo demonstration teams and journalists for the Winter Games in South Korea's eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang.
At the first working-level meeting on Monday, South Korea accepted North Korea's proposal to send a 140-member art delegation, including an 80-member orchestra, singers and dancers who would perform in Seoul and the easter port of Gangneung, one of the Olympic venues.
Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung led South Korea's delegation to the meeting in Panmunjom, and the North Korean side was headed by Jon Jong-su, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, a state body in inter-Korean affairs.
In a mid-day statement, the South's unification ministry said North Korea wants to send 230 cheerleaders by land and hold a joint eve festival.
The outcome of talks between Chun and Jon will be conveyed to a meeting involving the International Olympic Committee and the two Koreas on Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The agenda includes a joint march by South and North Korean athletes at the opening ceremony, a joint women's hockey team, a travel route, accommodation, logistics and other technical matters.
President Moon Jae-in supported a joint march and a unified Korea team as a good start for improving frozen cross-border relations. "The North's participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics will play a big role in boosting ticket sales," he said during his visit to an athletes village in the southern county of Jincheon.
South Korean officials hope to field a joint hockey team of 35 players. However, coach Sarah Murray remained negative saying her team, backed by imported players from Canada and the United States, is strong enough to produce good results.
"There are a few good players on that team that could help us, but our team has gotten so much stronger over the last four seasons," Murray told reporters Tuesday.
"They definitely have players that can help us but I don't think they would have anybody that would infiltrate our first, second or third lines," she said, suggesting that a few good North Korean players could be added to the 23-player roster.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
