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Korean Sport and Olympics committee secretary general Jeon Choong-ryul (right) and North Korean vice sports minister Won Kil-u shake hands at the inter-Korean athletic talks on June 18 at the House of Peace on the South Korean side of Panmunjeom. (provided by MCST)
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First games set for Pyongyang in July, Seoul games expected in August
The South and North Korea basketball games are set to take place for the first time in 15 years. The first ones will be in Pyongyang on July 3–6, with others taking place in Seoul during the fall. During inter-Korean athletic talks on June 18 at the House of Peace in the southern area of Panmunjeom, the two sides agreed to “hold South and North Korean basketball games in Pyongyang on July 3–6 to coincide with the release of a July 4 inter-Korean joint statement as the first agreement by South and North Korean authorities, and to hold [additional games] in Seoul during the autumn,” the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) reported. Lasting eight hours from 10 am to 6 pm that day, the inter-Korean athletic talks were attended by three South Korean representatives led by Korean Sport and Olympics committee secretary general Jeon Choong-ryul and three North Korean representatives headed by vice sports minister Won Kil-u. MCST also announced that South Korea would be “sending men’s and women’s squads for the Pyongyang games, which are to take the form of inter-Korean and goodwill matches.” The South Korean squad will have 100 members, including 50 each from the men’s and women’s sides. The inter-Korean basketball games will be the first in the 15 years since an Oct. 2003 goodwill match to commemorate the opening of Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium. More detailed agreements were also reached on the South and North Koreans’ joint entrance at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang this August. “The South and North Korean sides will be entering jointly for the Asian Games opening and closing ceremonies and have agreed to play as ‘KOREA’ – to be abbreviated as ‘COR’ – under the Korean Peninsula flag and with ‘Arirang’ as their song, and with unified teams participating in some events,” MCST said. The Asian Games joint entrance as agreed upon in the Panmunjeom Declaration following an Apr. 27 inter-Korean summit is to be the two sides’ 11th at an international sporting event. Jeon Choong-ryul explained the two sides had “agreed to submit the Korean Peninsula flag to be used at the Asian Games to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) with Dokdo depicted on it.” North Korea previously insisted that Dokdo be shown on the Korean Peninsula flag at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. OCA voiced no objections to either the Asian Games joint entrance or the fielding of unified teams. But the impossibility of expanding entries to accommodate a unified team is expected to create practical difficulties forming them. While previous mention had been made of unified teams possibly competing in a range of events including table tennis, basketball, judo, gymnastics, tennis, and rowing, the current discussions are focusing solely on canoeing. Decisions on unified teams for the Olympics and Asian Games are complicated by a range of factors including benefits such as sports pensions and exemption from military service. At the same time, an agreement to field men’s and women’s teams at the World Table Tennis Championships in Swedish this May came suddenly ahead of the quarterfinals. Discussions on unified teams are expected to increase going ahead, particularly in the areas of women’s events and international competitions besides the Olympics and Asian Games. In addition to short-term matters like unified teams, the talks also laid the groundwork for ongoing exchanges. In their agreement that day, the two sides said they planned to “jointly enter international events including the 2018 Asian Para Games, participate in international events hosted by South and North Korea, and promote athletic cooperation and exchange in areas such as joint training and competitions for different events.” The “international events hosted by South and North Korea” appeared to refer to the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships this August in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. By Lee Chan-yeong, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
