Regardless of their frosty political ties, athletes from North and South Korea have typically produced emotional scenes of reconciliation at worldwide sports activities occasions.
They tearfully hugged after profitable a world desk tennis championship, drew a standing ovation whereas parading collectively on the opening of the Olympics and took a selfie with one another that captured worldwide headlines.
There might be comparable drama at subsequent month’s Winter Olympics within the South Korean ski resort city of Pyeongchang, with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un saying he is prepared to ship a delegation to the video games. The 2 Koreas will meet at their tense border on Tuesday to debate how one can cooperate on the Olympics.
Some key moments in Korean sports activities ties:
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1986: Seoul, the South Korean capital, hosts the Asian Video games. North Korea boycotts.
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1988: Seoul hosts the Summer time Olympics, and North Korea once more boycotts.
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April 1991: The Koreas ship their first-ever unified female and male groups to the world desk tennis championships in Chiba, Japan. The ladies’s workforce wins the championship by defeating the highly effective Chinese language.
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June 1991: The Koreas ship a unified staff to the FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal. The group reaches the quarterfinals.
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2000: Athletes from the 2 Koreas march collectively underneath a “unification flag” depicting their peninsula in the course of the opening and shutting ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics. It is the Koreas’ first such parade since their 1945 division.
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2002: North Korea attends the Asian Video games in Busan, South Korea. The nations’ athletes conduct a joint march in the course of the opening and shutting ceremonies. North Korea sends a cheering group of younger ladies. Dubbed the “squad of beauties” in South Korean media, they typically draw extra consideration than the North’s athletes.
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2003: North Korea participates within the College Video games in Daegu, South Korea, and its athletes stroll with their South Korean counterparts in the course of the opening and shutting ceremonies.
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2004: Athletes from the 2 Koreas march collectively on the Athens Olympics.
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2005: North Korea attends the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon, South Korea. Included within the North’s cheering squad is Ri Sol Ju, who’s now the spouse of Kim Jong Un.
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2006: The 2 Koreas march collectively on the Turin Winter Olympics.
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2007: Athletes from the 2 Koreas march collectively on the Asian Winter Video games in Changchun, China, however haven’t carried out so since.
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2014: North Korea attends the Asian Video games in Incheon, South Korea. On the shut of the occasion, three prime North Korean officers make a shock go to and maintain the very best-degree face-to-face talks with South Korea in 5 years.
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2016: On the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, a 17-yr-previous South Korean gymnast takes a selfie with a North Korean gymnast whereas coaching for competitors. The photograph captures international headlines, and Worldwide Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach describes it as a “nice gesture.”
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2017: North Korea’s taekwondo demonstration group visits South Korea for its first efficiency within the rival nation in 10 years.
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Jan. 1, 2018: North Korea’s Kim says in his New Yr’s tackle that he’s prepared to ship a delegation to the Pyeongchang Olympics.
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Jan. 5, 2018: South Korea says North Korea has agreed to carry talks on the way to cooperate for the Pyeongchang Video games.
