The two Koreas wrapped up two days of inter-Korean basketball games on Thursday.
Senior officials of Seoul and Pyongyang saw the games as a great success... and that the two sides should further strengthen inter-Korean sports exchanges.
And this -- led to the unexpected working-level sports talks just before midnight.
Oh Jung-hee tells us more.
Wrapping up the second and final day of Unification Basketball Games,... the South and North Korean officials shared their impressions of the friendlies.
A farewell dinner was held in Pyongyang on Thursday evening,... hosted by Choe Hwi, the chairman of North Korea's National Sports Guidance Committee.
Choe said,... seeing the players running together,... he felt the two Koreas are, in the end, one -- sharing the same history and language.

"In sports, there's a winner and a loser... but, there's no such thing when it comes to achieving unification. Let's further strengthen our sports exchanges and win even more gold medals at the 18th Asian Games."

South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said... every match had been heart-warming.

"I believe we'll move much closer to reconciliation, peace, and unification if the South and the North go together, just like our basketball players did. I'm sure the success of these basketball games paved the way for more inter-Korean sports exchanges."

And to keep the momentum going, Seoul and Pyongyang held hastily-arranged inter-Korean working-level sports discussions late Thursday night.
The main talking points -- the teams marching together under the Korean Unification Flag at the Asian Games in August... as well as North Korea's participation in both the 2018 Korea Open Table Tennis competition in July and the World Shooting Championship in August in South Korea.
The vice ministers of Seoul and Pyongyang's sports ministries headed their respective five-member delegations.
The working-level meeting came three weeks after higher-level sports talks in June.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.