[Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Aju News) -- North Korean athletes and cheerleaders returned home Monday through the heavily armed border after their landmark appearance in South Korea that led to a hard-won thaw in inter-Korean relations strained by the regime's nuclear and missile ambitions.
There was a tearful farewell when a bus carrying North Korean athletes, including 12 female hockey players, left the athletes' village in the eastern port city of Gangneung, one of the Olympics venues.
The joint hockey team posted a dismal record of five defeats with no wins, but South Korean hockey players, led by Canadian coach Sarah Murray, shed tears and hugged North Koreans in a hearty send-off.
In the northeastern town of Inje, a North Korean delegation including 229 cheerleaders, sports officials and others made a separate journey back to their hometown across the border.
[Yonhap News Photo]
Dubbed "an army of beauties", North Korean cheerleaders, mostly in their 20s, had received widespread attention from South Korean spectators when they turned up at every Olympic venue. Their charm offensive played a crucial role in North Korea's peace overture.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
