Koreas to form joint teams at Asiad

SEOUL: North and South Korea agreed Monday to form unified teams for some sports at the upcoming Asian Games — a move which highlights the rapprochement on the peninsula that began with the Winter Olympics.

At their historic summit in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to joint participation in “international sports events such as the 2018 Asian Games”.

Officials from the two Koreas met at the border truce village of Panmunjom on Monday and reached several agreements aimed at strengthening sporting ties.

“The South and the North agreed to march together at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Asian Games... and to form joint teams for certain sports,” said a joint Seoul-Pyongyang statement released by the South’s sports ministry.

The athletes from the Koreas will march under a neutral Korean peninsula flag and under the “Korea” name, the statement said.