So it all begins today,...
As one team,... women ice hockey players from
South and North Korea will attempt to sync
their games as they prepare for the PyeongChang
Winter Olympics.
The unified team only has one practice match
-- against Sweden on February 4th -- to play
together before the real deal begins a few
days later.
Won Jung hwan reports.
The North Korean women's ice hockey players
arrived in South Korea on Thursday.
12 hockey players, along with 3 staff members,
will form a combined team with their southern
counterparts for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
After crossing the border on Thursday morning,
the team, wearing the colors of the North
Korean flag, headed to the national training
center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of
Seoul.
The coach of the North Korean team expressed
his feelings toward forming the only combined
South-North team at the PyeongChang Olympics.
"I am very pleased to participate at the Olympics
as the only unified team formed between North
and South.
If we work together with unified strength
and mind, I think we will achieve good results
at the Games."
The hockey team have their first training
session next week under Sarah Murray, the
head coach of the unified team,... and will
play Sweden in a friendly match five days
before the start of the Olympics.
Their first group stage match is against Switzerland
on February 10th.
Another 10 North Korean athletes including
a figure skating pair,... and several speed
skaters and skiers will also compete at PyeongChang.
But North Korea's participation has proved
controversial among South Koreans.
Some welcomed the North's participation,...
but others complained that the unified women's
ice hockey team was unfair to the South Korean
athletes, depriving them of a chance to compete
at the games.
And there are concerns that the sudden addition
of so many players so close to the competition
could also disrupt team chemistry and impact
on results.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
