North Korean orchestra, maybe joint hockey team at Olympics
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korea’s delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea will include a 140-member art troupe, the two sides agreed Monday, while discussions continue over fielding a joint women’s hockey team.
The two Koreas met Monday for the second time in a week as they try to hammer out details for the North’s participation in next month’s Games, which the South sees as a way to calm tensions caused by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea said the art troupe will comprise 80 orchestra members and 60 members who sing and dance. The North Koreans will perform twice — once in Seoul and the other in the city of Gangneung, where some of the Olympic competitions will be held, according to South Korean delegates who attended the meeting.
Separately, South Korean Sports Ministry spokesman Hwang Seong Un said that the two Koreas have agreed in principle to field a joint women’s ice hockey team. The proposal requires International Olympic Committee approval. If realized, it would be the Koreas’ first unified Olympic team ever.