North Korean table tennis players arrive in S. Korea to form joint team with S. Korean players at Korea Open
  • 6 years ago
Cooperation between the two Koreas continues, meanwhile, in table tennis.
When the international Korea Open kicks off this week in the South Korean city of Daejeon , players from both sides will be playing on the same team.
Oh Soo-young reports.
North Korean table tennis players have arrived in South Korea to compete in an international tournament this week, where they will form joint teams with South Korean players.
The group of sixteen arrived at Incheon Airport on Sunday.
It was announced only hours earlier that they would be competing on the same side as the South Koreans in the doubles and mixed doubles events.

According to the Korea Table Tennis Association, South Korea's Lee Sang-su will pair up with the North's Pak Sin-hyok for the men's doubles event,... and in the women's doubles, it'll be Seo Hyo-won and Kim Song-i .
For the mixed doubles, South Korea's Jang Woo-jin and Cha Hyo-sim will play together,... as will Yoo Eun-chong and Pak Sin-hyok.
The six-day event is set to take place in the city of Daejeon, south of Seoul.
This will mark the third time since 1991... that the two sides have formed joint teams for table tennis,... and the first time the North has competed in an event under the International Table Tennis Federation.
The two sides' women players teamed up in May for the World Team Table Tennis Championships held in Sweden.
The so-called ping pong diplomacy,... among other sports exchanges,... come amid the rapprochement between the two Koreas... as they seek to mend their ties and achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul and Pyongyang have also agreed to forge joint teams in various sports during the Asian Games in Indonesia next month.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.
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