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JINCHEON, South Korea, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- A dozen North Korean women's hockey players joined the South Korean team Thursday to start preparing for next month's Winter Olympics together.
The 12 players were joined by coach Pak Chol-ho and two members of support staff as they crossed the tense border on foot earlier in the day and arrived at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul, around 12:30 p.m. by bus.
In this Joint Press Corps photo, members of the South and North Korean women's hockey teams pose for pictures during the welcome ceremony of the North Korean team at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 25, 2018. The Koreas will have a joint team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. (Yonhap)
South Korea, coached by former U.S. collegiate standout Sarah Murray, has 23 players on its current entry. But following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision from last Saturday, Murray will have to include at least three players from North Korea in her game roster of 22 players -- 20 skaters and two goaltenders.
South Korea first proposed the joint hockey team on Jan. 9 during high-level inter-Korean talks, and the two sides reached an agreement eight days later. The IOC gave its stamp of approval while also setting terms for integration of North Korean players.
Upon arrival at the training venue, the North Korean delegation was greeted by Lee Jae-geun, head of the Jincheon training center, and Chung Mong-won, president of the Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA). South Korean players presented their new teammates with bouquets of flowers.
"We extend our warm welcome to you all," Lee told the North Korean team. "We hope you will all work closely together and give your best shot. We'll try to ensure a comfortable stay here for everyone."
Pak responded that he was "quite pleased that North and South Korea have become one."
"No team wants to lose, and we'll try to play great games," Pak added. "If we can all come together over a short period of time and do our best, we should have good results."
The six-minute welcome ceremony ended with a photo session for the players.
The IOC has said Murray is in charge of all roster decisions. The coach herself has said she has been reassured that she has the full authority to build her lineup as she sees fit.
Murray will run separate practices for the two squads for the rest of this week and then start having joint practices next week. She has scheduled a team meeting for everyone at 8 p.m. Thursday.
In this Joint Press Corps photo, South Korea women's hockey head coach Sarah Murray (L) greets her North Korean counterpart Pak Chol-ho during the welcome ceremony of the North Korean team at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 25, 2018. The Koreas will have a joint team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. (Yonhap)
South Korea is ranked 22nd in the world but has been on the rise recently, while North Korea is a team on the downslope at No. 25. In their most recent meeting last April at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championship Division II Group A tournament, South Korea prevailed 3-0, though the game was even more lopsided than the score indicates.
Murray has said while she has taken note of some intense, hard-nosed players on the North Korean team, she doesn't think anyone could crack the top three lines of South Korea.
After the IOC made its announcement, Murray and her staff put together what she called a "ghost roster" with some of the players they liked from the IIHF event. Those players were put on the fourth line and the last defensive pairing.
All 12 players -- nine forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender -- competed in that IIHF event last April. An initial list provided by Seoul's Unification Ministry erroneously identified one player as Hwang Yong-gum, a mysterious name that wasn't part of last year's world championship, when she was actually Hwang Chung-gum, a blueliner who played in all five games in that tournament.
The players are aged between 21 and 27, with forward Jin Ok being the oldest.
Jong Su-hyon, a 21-year-old forward, led North Korea in scoring with two goals and two assists in five games at the IIHF tournament.
Murray's team will have one tune-up game on Feb. 4 against Sweden, which also happens to be its second group stage opponent at the Olympics. It will be the only opportunity for players from the two Koreas to play together before the real deal begins. Murray said earlier this week she plans to put North Korean players in that game.
Murray also said she won't rotate the 12 North Korean players just so everyone gets a chance. She said she'll go out there trying to win Olympic games, not a popularity contest, and her plan is to "pick the best players."
In this file photo, taken April 6, 2017, players from both South Korea and North Korea (in white and red, respectively) pose for group pictures after their game at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship Division II Group A tournament at Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. (Yonhap)
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