North Korean athletes arrive in South for Olympics – Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea – A delegation of North Korean skiers and skaters arrived in the South on Thursday to take part in the Winter Olympics later this month, Seoul’s unification ministry said.

Their airplane landed at an airport near Gangneung, a spokesman said, after a rare direct flight between the two halves of the divided peninsula.

A total of 10 skiers and skaters were expected to make their way to their accommodation in the athletes’ village in Gangneung, on South Korea’s east coast, where the Olympic skating events will be held.

Thursday’s arrivals will compete for North Korea after nuclear-armed Pyongyang agreed last month to send athletes to the Games, following months of entreaties from Seoul to participate in a “peace Olympics”.

The two Koreas also agreed to form a unified women’s ice hockey team, and 12 North Korean skaters arrived last week to join their Southern counterparts.

Outside the airport terminal well-wishers held up banners Friday depicting reunification flags — a silhouette of the Korean peninsula in blue on a white background — with one reading: “We are one.” – Rappler.com