North, South Korea will march under unified flag at Asian Games as they did at PyeongChang 2018.GETTY IMAGES
The two Koreas agreed on Monday "to march together under a unified peninsula flag and form combined teams to compete in the next Asian Games," they said in a joint statement, according to Hyonhee Shin of REUTERS. It is the "latest sign of a thaw between the old rivals." Both sides also agreed at a round of talks on their heavily-fortified border "to hold a series of basketball matches" in Pyongyang from July 3-6, "marking the anniversary of a July 4, 1972, inter-Korean agreement on unification." The agreement comes "amid a range of talks as part of efforts to promote reconciliation," including opening military hotlines and arranging reunions for families of Koreans divided by the Korean War. Korean Sport & Olympic Committee Secretary-General Jeon Choong-ryul said, "We shared the view that sport initiated inter-Korean rapprochement and cooperation." The athletes from the two sides will march together under a unified peninsula flag and the country name "Korea" during the opening and closing ceremony of the Asian Games, "as they did in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February." The next Asian Games will be held in Indonesia from mid-August to early September (REUTERS, 6/18). In Seoul, Yoon Min-sik reported the South will send male and female players to the North for an exhibition game against North Korean players "and another game after mixing both sides' rosters." Subsequent cross-border games will be held in Seoul "on an unspecified date in the fall." A total of 100 people, consisting of players, referees and supporting crew, will visit the North (KOREA HERALD, 6/18).
