(ATR) North Korea is ready to follow up on its Olympic performances, agreeing on Tuesday to send athletes to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympics.
North and South Korea are expected to march as a unified team once more during the Paralympic opening ceremony on March 8. The North Korean athletes entering the PyeongChang Paralympic Stadium will make history as the first athletes from the country to participate in the Winter Paralympics.
The two countries agreed to four proposals tied to the Paralympics during high-level talks held in the Demilitarized Zone on Feb. 27. Just as for the Olympics that concluded Feb. 25, South Korea will provide guidance, secure accommodations and "guarantee the convenience" of the North’s delegation.
While the released proposal did not include the number of athletes to attend, it did specify that the North Korean delegation will arrive on March 7 via the Gyeongui Line land route. United Nations sanctions against North Korea prevent air travel between North and South Korea.
The International Paralympic Committee must still approve any proposals but has previously welcomed North Korea’s participation at PyeongChang 2018 and extended invites to two North Koran athletes, Jong Hyon Kim and Yu Chol Ma, to compete in Para Nordic skiing.
North Korea has only competed in two previous Paralympics, sending two Paralympians to compete in athletics at the Rio 2016 Summer Games following its successful Paralympics debut at the London 2012 Games.
While North Korea sent more than 500 people to PyeongChang to participate in the Games and cultural performances surrounding them, it is expected that less than 150 North Korean will travel to South Korea for the Paralympics.
Previous talks between the two country included invitations to a cheerleading squad and musicians from North Korea, but Tuesday’s release from South Korea’s unification ministry held no mention of the additional delegates.
North and South Korea will continue refining the details of the Paralympics participation in the week leading up to the event through the dedicated communications channels in Panmunjeom.
Written by Kevin Nutley
Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
