North, South Korea To March In Opening Ceremony Under One Flag

North and South Korea yesterday agreed to "march together under a unified flag" during the Opening Ceremony at next month’s Pyeongchang Games. The announcement also "includes plans to organize a joint women’s ice hockey team" (L.A. TIMES, 1/18). Both countries' skiers will "train together at a resort in North Korea" before the Games. However, North Korea’s participation in Olympic competition "isn’t certain." It "missed the registration deadlines," and now it is up to the IOC to "approve the proposal" (VOX.com, 1/17).

NBC Sports President of Olympics Production & Programming Jim Bell said, "This recent temperature-cooling period has been a nice thing. And it also kind of makes it interesting. People are curious. There’s that added factor to it." Bell said the diplomatic thaw "has been most welcome, both by the world and our employees, who are in the world" (NEWSDAY.com, 1/18).

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