North Korea wants 230 cheerleaders to attend the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February) and also at the Paralympics (8. till 18. March) in the hostile south.
This was the conclusion of another working meeting between representatives of the two Korean countries after the announcement of the participation of the North in the Games.
“Domestic Korean relations are very strained,” said Jon Jong Su, head of the North Korean delegation at the meeting in Panmunjom:”We hope that we can solve the knot.
The results will be discussed on Saturday (from 9.30 a. m.) at the IOC under the leadership of President Thomas Bach in Lausanne. In addition to the two National Olympic Committees, the Organising Committee of the Games and the IOC members of both countries are also involved.
The IOC has to make a number of special arrangements for participation by North Korea. For example, the integration of athletes from the north who have no qualifications. Notification deadlines have also expired. At the same time, the protocol (flag, anthem, equipment) for the starters from the north must be established.
Until recently, North Korea had created major political tensions in the region with arms and missile tests. In his New Year’s speech, ruler Kim Jong Un surprisingly announced that he would send a delegation to the Games in the South.
It was also suggested that there should be a joint women’s ice hockey team in Pyeongchang, and that the athletes from both countries should join in side by side at the opening and closing ceremonies.
But the proposals were not only welcomed in the south. Several thousand South Koreans petitioned President Moon Jae In to reject the plan, saying:”Our players have been training hard for years to start at the Olympics…”. A joint team would lead some of them to the result that their efforts were in vain,”they said.