An inter-Korean ice hockey team goes to the Olympic Games for the first time in 30 years
A North Korean player gives flowers to another South Korean, this Thursday. Song Kyung-Seok-Poo Getty
The hockey breaks the ice between North Korea and South Korea, in tension, especially in recent months by the ballistic and nuclear programs of the North Korean regime.
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The athletes, who wear tracksuits with the acronym DPR Korea (official name of North Korea), have been received in the city of Jincheon, in the east of the country, with bouquets of flowers by their South Korean colleagues.
"I am happy that North and South have joined for this competition," said North Korean coach Pak Chol Ho. Along with the players from the north country, a delegation traveled to prepare the arrival of the other North Korean athletes, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry.
The 12 North Koreans will join the 23 South Koreans chosen for the competition, following the recent agreement concluded by the two Koreas and the International Olympic Committee . It is the first inter-Korean team since 1991, when table tennis players from both countries played the world championships in Japan, and footballers participated in the U-20 World Cup in Portugal. North Korea, which had boycotted the Seoul Games in 1988, sent another 10 athletes to Pyeongchang: three in cross-country skiing, three in alpine skiing, two in speed skating and a couple in figure skating.
Diplomatic activity between Pyongyang and Seoul has increased since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on January 1 the possible participation of his country in the Games. Civil contacts are forbidden between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war because the conflict they lived between 1950 and 1953 did not end with a peace treaty but with an armistice.
The Kim regime published a speech on Thursday "for all Koreans" in order to demand the reunification of the peninsula, a goal that North Korea tried to achieve by force by invading its southern neighbor in 1950. "Let's make a campaign energetic to appease the exacerbated military tensions and create a peaceful climate in the Korean peninsula, "reads the text published by the official agency KCNA. We must "put an end to mistrust and mutual incomprehension" and multiply contacts and exchanges.
Controversy in South Korea
The idea of forming a unified team has caused controversy in South Korea, where some accuse Seoul of sacrificing the Olympic dream of several athletes in the country for political reasons. The South Korean president, the center-left Moon Jae-In, never hid his will to convert the appointment of Pyeongchang in the Peace Games , a way to reduce tensions between the two countries.
Senior South Korean officials stoked the controversy when they justified their decision and said the women's team had no medal option. The controversy diminished Moon's popularity, which reached its lowest level (60%) since he took office in May 2017.
To make come to the North is "an investment of the future", have assured sources of the South Korean presidency. But many analysts doubt that this peaceful momentum will last beyond the Games, as Pyongyang claims to have become a fully fledged nuclear State.
