South Korea’s feminine hockey gamers hate the concept of a joint Korean Olympic group

As relations between the Koreas begin to thaw, South Korean president Moon Jae-in has made the upcoming Winter Olympics a significant a part of that detente. And key to that effort is girls’s hockey—particularly the concept of a joint North-South Korean group.

However the South Korean gamers aren’t significantly completely happy on the prospect of North Korea crashing their Olympics debut. The ladies’s group coach, Sarah Murray, instructed reporters yesterday (Jan. 16) that there could be “harm” to the group as a result of “the gamers have earned their spots they usually suppose they should go to the Olympics.”

The proposal for a joint group was made when the 2 nations met on Jan. 9 on the Demilitarized Zone, a buffer zone that divides the 2 Koreas, however the plan wasn’t made public till Jan. 12. Additional particulars of the proposal will likely be hammered out this weekend when North and South Korea meet in Lausanne, Switzerland on the headquarters of the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Winter Olympics will likely be held within the South Korean metropolis of Pyeongchang from Feb. 9 to 25. North Korea has agreed to ship 230 feminine cheerleaders and a 140-member orchestra to the video games. The potential of the 2 nations marching collectively below a joint flag on the opening ceremony for the primary time for the reason that 2006 Olympics can be being mentioned. Solely two North Korean athletes, determine skaters Kim Ju-sik and Ryom Tae-ok, have certified for the video games.

Extra North Korean athletes might participate within the Olympics in the event that they’re added to the feminine hockey roster. South Korea’s sports activities minister stated that the federal government plans to ask the IOC whether or not it might develop the group’s present roster of 23 to greater than 30. He tried to placate the South Korean group by explaining that as hockey is performed in brief shifts, all gamers would get a activate the ice.

Moreover, South Korea’s prime minister Lee Nak-yeon stated at a media briefing at the moment (Jan. 17) that since its girls’s hockey group is ranked 22nd on this planet, it’s “not in competition for a medal” (hyperlink in Korean). North Korea’s group is ranked 25th.

Although the small print of a single hockey group haven’t been finalized, president Moon reiterated at the moment that if the 2 nations march collectively or kind a joint group, the prospects for peace are higher than simply North Korea’s participation within the video games.

It is going to be the primary look by South Korea’s feminine hockey group on the Winter Olympics, having routinely certified because the host nation. Murray, the coach, added that she was “form of shocked” that the opportunity of fielding a joint group with North Korea was introduced so near the beginning of the video games. An unnamed official with South Korea’s ice hockey affiliation instructed Reuters that the group was “livid” and “completely speechless” on the proposal.

The concept for fielding a joint group was truly first floated final summer season by South Korea’s sports activities minister. Murray stated she didn’t suppose the matter can be raised once more after these talks.

The 2 groups met final yr in April at a world hockey event in Gangneung in South Korea, which the host nation gained Three-Zero.