Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A2

February 5, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » World

Mixed reaction greets unified Korea team

Source: Agencies | 00:01 UTC+8 February 5, 2018 | Print Edition

SOUTH Korean fans chanting “We are one” and wearing shirts with the unification flag emblazoned on the front packed into a freezing ice hockey arena yesterday to cheer on the joint Korean women’s team in a tune-up for this month’s Winter Olympics.

North and South Korea agreed last month to field a combined women’s ice hockey team and march together under one flag in Pyeongchang after a new round of talks amid a thaw in cross-border relations.

With some 3,000 fans packed into Seonhak International Ice Rink in Incheon, the Koreans, who have only practiced together for a week, lost 3-1 to Sweden.

While the result was a disappointment, hopes are high that the unified Hockey team could help to improve relations.

“I am excited,” said Park Cheol-hyun, who came to watch the game with his wife and son. “Even though the nuclear issue may not be resolved immediately, it will be good for the longer term if the two Koreas get closer. Otherwise, there is no way to resolve it.”

While the reaction to North Korea’s decision to participate in the Games was met warmly in South Korea, the decision to form a combined women’s ice hockey team sparked some criticism.

Critics said that by adding North Korean players at the last minute would mean missed opportunities for home players and could hurt team chemistry.

“As a coach, it is hard to tell some of your players that you have been with for a quite a long time that they are not going be able to play, but the whole situation is out of our control. So we are trying to make the best out of it,” Sarah Murray, the head coach of the team, said after the game.

“There are a lot of challenges with adding players so close to the Olympics,” she said, adding that the language barrier was a real problem.

Both sets of players speak Korean, but the language has evolved differently in North and South Korea.

The International Olympic Committee said 12 North Korean players would join the squad and the team has to include at least three North Koreans.

North Korea will also send athletes to take part in figure skating, short track speed skating, cross-country and Alpine skiing at the February 9-25 Games.

The controversy has hit the popularity of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who hoped the Olympics would pave the way for a breakthrough in resolving North Korea’s nuclear issue.

Ahead of the game, conservative groups held protests and tore up a North Korean flag. They called for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to step down.

“The unified team is politically contaminated,” 58-year-old Cho Young-hwan said, calling Moon “the puppet” of the North Korean leader. “The Olympics offered an opportunity for North Korea to publicize its propaganda and create a conflict within South Korea,” Cho added.

World


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend