PANMUNJOM: North and South Korea signed an unprecedented agreement recently to create united teams for two international sports championships marking the first time the two rivals will have played on the same side.
The agreement had political as well as sports implications Delegates representing the two nations signed an agreement to field a single Korean team for the 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Japan and the sixth World Youth Soccer championship in Portugal in June.
North Korea’s chief delegate Kim Hyung Jin called the agreement “an epoch-making event in our national history” and a step toward unification of the Korean peninsula.
South Korean Government and sports officials expressed hope that the agreement would lead to further dialogue and the possible formation of a joint team for the 1992 Olympic Games.
The formal signing occurred late in the day at the truce village of Panmunjom amid handshakes smiles and the popping of champagne corks.
South Korean sports minister Park Chul-Un said the agreement is “a gallant national enterprise which opens the way for the two Koreas to form a single team in other international sports events.
The two sides had reached agreement earlier in the day and took the unusual step of staying at the border village until nightfall so a committee could draft the final agreement in writing.
Delegates said 10-member joint panels to choose table tennis contestants met recently and a panel to choose soccer players met also. Both meetings were held at Panmunjom.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 15, 1991
