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Koreas to march under single 'united' flag in Olympic Games Koreas to march under single 'united' flag in Olympic Games
(about 5 hours later)
North and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single "unified Korea" flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South.North and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single "unified Korea" flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South.
They also agreed to field a joint women's ice hockey team in rare talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.They also agreed to field a joint women's ice hockey team in rare talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.
These are the first high-level talks between the two Koreas in more than two years. These are the first high-level talks between the countries in more than two years.
The Games will take place between 9 and 25 February in Pyeongchang in South Korea. It marks a thaw in relations that began in the new year when North Korea offered to send a team to the games.
If the plans are realised, a hundreds-strong North Korean delegation - including 230 cheerleaders, 140 orchestral musicians and 30 taekwondo athletes - could cross into the South via the land border to attend. The games will take place between 9 and 25 February in Pyeongchang in South Korea.
What will happen?
If the plans are realised, a hundreds-strong North Korean delegation - including 230 cheerleaders, 140 orchestral musicians and 30 taekwondo athletes - could cross into the South via the land border to attend the Winter Olympics.
It will mean the opening of the cross border road for the first time in almost two years.
The two countries have also agreed to field a joint team for the sport of women's ice hockey. It would be the first time athletes from both Koreas have competed together in the same team at an Olympic Games.
The North has also agreed to send a smaller, 150-member delegation to the Paralympics in March.The North has also agreed to send a smaller, 150-member delegation to the Paralympics in March.
Both South Korea's hockey coach and conservative newspapers had expressed concern about the prospect of a united hockey team, saying it could damage South Korea's chances of winning a medal. The agreement will have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday, because North Korea has missed registration deadlines or failed to qualify.
South Korea will also need to find ways to host the North Korean delegation without violating UN Security Council sanctions outlawing cash transfers to Pyongyang and blacklisting certain senior North officials.
What has the reaction been?
South Korea's hockey coach and conservative newspapers have expressed concern about the prospect of a united hockey team, saying it could damage South Korea's chances of winning a medal.
Tens of thousands of people are said to have signed online petitions urging President Moon Jae-in to scrap the plan.Tens of thousands of people are said to have signed online petitions urging President Moon Jae-in to scrap the plan.
And it will have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday, because North Korea has missed registration deadlines or failed to qualify. But the liberal leader told South Korean Olympic athletes on Wednesday that the North's participation in the Games would help improve inter-Korean relations.
South Korea will also need to find ways to host the North Korean delegation without violating UN Security Council sanctions outlawing cash transfers to Pyongyang, and blacklisting certain senior officials from Pyongyang.
Japan has viewed the latest detente with suspicion, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono saying the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive".Japan has viewed the latest detente with suspicion, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono saying the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive".
"It is not the time to ease pressure or to reward North Korea," Mr Kono said, according to Reuters news agency. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.""It is not the time to ease pressure or to reward North Korea," Mr Kono said, according to Reuters news agency. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working."
But the South's liberal President Moon told South Korean Olympic athletes on Wednesday that the North's participation in the Games would help improve inter-Korean relations. No Korean Spring
That would in turn pave the way for the nuclear issue to be addressed and open the way to dialogue between the North and the US, he said according to Yonhap news agency in Seoul. Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent
The North has made rapid recent advances in its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes. The Olympic embrace between North and South Korea represents a rare moment of hope in a crisis that at times has appeared to be steadily moving towards another war on the Korean peninsula.
Its latest ballistic missile test, on 28 November, sparked a new series of fresh sanctions from the UN targeting petrol shipments and travel. But is this a brief respite from the bluster and war-like words exchanged between Pyongyang and President Donald Trump, Seoul's main ally? Or does it really offer a platform for a diplomatic route out of this crisis?
But soon afterwards North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was "open to dialogue". The enormity of an armed conflict is clear to all - even President Trump. However, the Olympic detente does not alter the realities of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Japan's Foreign Minister Kono issued his caution about talks in Vancouver, Canada, where some 20 nations that fought alongside the US-backed South in the bloody 1950-53 war - which ended in stalemate and sealed the peninsula's division - met to discuss its future. Both programmes need more testing to demonstrate a true inter-continental capability. And with Mr Trump insisting that this is a capability that the North will not be allowed to obtain, it is hard to see this developing into a Korean spring, let alone a definitive resolution of the nuclear dispute.
On the sidelines of the talks, ministers from South Korea, the US and Japan agreed to maintain pressure on the North to denuclearise while offering support for the bilateral talks, reported Yonhap agency. How did the agreement come about?
The talks which resulted in this agreement came after tensions on the Korean peninsula reached their highest point in decades.
This is because North Korea has made rapid advances in its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes in recent years.
Its latest ballistic missile test, on 28 November, sparked a series of fresh sanctions from the UN targeting petrol shipments and travel.
Soon afterwards North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was "open to dialogue".
In a New Year speech, he said he was considering sending a team to the Winter Olympics. South Korea's Olympics chief had said last year that the North's athletes would be welcome.
Then, on 9 January, the two countries made the breakthrough announcement that the North would be sending a delegation.
It was also agreed that a military hotline between the nations, suspended for nearly two years, would be reinstated.
President Moon Jae-in has said the Olympic agreement could pave the way for the nuclear issue to be addressed and lead to dialogue between the North and the US, according to Yonhap news agency in Seoul.