North and South Korea to march separately at Paralympics
Pyeongchang: South Korea and North Korea will march separately at the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics.
Unlike last month's Winter Olympics in the mountain resort town of Pyeongchang, which will be remembered for the two Koreas marching side by side in a show of unity, representatives of the two national Paralympic committees decided not to march under the same conditions.
North Korea's Jong Su Hyon and South Korea's Park Jong-ah carry the torch during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
Photo: APDiscussions between the committees described as "amicable and positive" were held in the Paralympic Village on Thursday.
“Although we are disappointed, we respect the decision of the two NPCs who decided that marching separately would be better for both parties," said Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee.
"The IOC made great progress in opening up dialogue between the two nations ahead of last month’s Olympic Winter Games and I think having North Korea participate in Pyeongchang 2018 is a great step forward for the Paralympic movement.
“During today’s discussions it was clear that NPC North Korea respects and values the IPC’s vision and mission. Going forward, it has committed to working further with the IPC to improve the lives of people with an impairment in North Korea."
North Korea will be represented by two athletes at its first winter Paralympics after making its Paralympics debut in London six years ago.
There are nine days of competition in the Winter Paralympics, starting on Saturday.
Began his full-time career at The Age as an online sports reporter in 1999 before joining Sportal as the Deputy Editor of the AFL-Telstra online network in 2002. Rejoined the online desk at The Age in 2006 and was online sports editor between 2006 and 2016. Has covered two Olympics (Sydney 2000 and London 2012), numerous Australian Open tennis tournaments and several AFL grand finals. Reads the back page first. Hack golfer. Wannabe tennis star.
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