PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean athletes may use a South Korean chartered flight to travel to the host city of the Winter Olympic Games next month, officials here said Monday.
According to officials from Seoul's unification ministry and ski governing body, the two Koreas are in discussion to transport some North Korean athletes via South Korean chartered flight, which will fly between the North's Kalma Airport in Wonsan and the South's Yangyang Airport in Gangwon Province.
Yangyang Airport is about 70 kilometers northeast of PyeongChang and 40 kilometers north of Gangneung, a sub-host city that will stage all ice sports events during the Olympics.
The two Koreas have agreed to hold joint training for their skiers at the North's Masikryong Ski Resort, a roughly 45-minute drive from Kalma Airport, ahead of the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Olympics.
The South has said it plans to use a chartered plane to fly its skiers -- none from the Olympic squad -- to North Korea for the joint training. According to officials, North Korean athletes -- particularly skiers -- are likely to use that chartered flight to travel across the border.
For snow sports at the PyeongChang Olympics, North Korea plans to send three alpine skiers and three cross-country skiers.
"Three North Korean alpine skiers are already training at Masikryong Ski Resort, and three cross-country skiers, who are currently in Samjiyon County, are set to move to the resort," an official with the Korea Ski Association (KSA) said. "If confirmed, a North Korean delegation of 30 members, including the six Olympic skiers, will probably take the chartered flight to Yangyang Airport."
North Korea previously said it will send 22 athletes and 24 coaches and administrative personnel as its national team for the PyeongChang Olympics. Fifteen women's ice hockey players came to the South last Thursday via a land route.
If the air transport plan is confirmed, theoretically, all remaining North Korean national team members can come to South Korea. However, the official didn't confirm whether North Korean skaters would also take the chartered flight.
North Korea previously said its delegation will use a western land route to come to the South.
In this file photo, taken on Jan. 25, 2018, North Korea women's ice hockey players and officials leave a rest area on South Korea's Jungbu Expressway and head to their bus. (Yonhap)
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