South Korea Leader Hopes for Unified Olympic Team With the North
The South Korean president, who advocates dialogue
and reconciliation with North Korea, recalled past instances where the two Koreas fielded joint teams in international sports competitions and their national teams marched together in Olympic Games.
By CHOE SANG-HUNJUNE 24, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea — President Moon Jae-in of South Korea proposed on Saturday
that his country and North Korea form a unified team to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics, to be held in the city of Pyeongchang in the South.
Moon welcomed the North Korean taekwondo team to the South, which hopes to send its demonstration team to an International
Taekwondo Federation competition to be held in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in September.
He said the two taekwondo federations’ cooperation should inspire the two Koreas to work for a joint Olympic team.
In South Korea, broadcasts of soccer matches are interspersed with English terms like "goal post," "penalty kick"
and "midfield." In the North, where state linguists abhor foreign terminology, athletes use Korean translations not readily understandable to South Korean players.
In 1991, the two Koreas fielded a joint team to an international table-tennis championship and international youth soccer tournament.
