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| November 23, 2006 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 1, 1427 |
Koreas agree to march together at Asian Games
SEOUL, Nov 22: The South and North Korean delegations will march together at the opening and closing ceremonies of next month's Asian Games in Doha.
The South Korean government also appears likely to accept the North's latest offer to continue talks on fielding a single team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an official at South Korea's Unification Ministry said Wednesday.
South Korea ''will move in a way that respects the opinion of the sports community,'' the official said on condition of anonymity, as no final decision was made.
The move comes amid lingering tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's nuclear test last month.
The South Korean Olympic committee delivered its opinions to the Unification Ministry earlier Wednesday, calling for a joint entry at the upcoming Asian Games as well as talks with the North on forming a unified team for the Beijing Olympics.
The two sides are likely to hold talks on the joint Olympic team while in Doha, according to officials.
In previous talks, South and North Korea failed to make any headway on how to compose a single team for Beijing.
South Korea has insisted athletes should be selected based on performance, while North Korea wants equal representation based on the spirit of a 2000 inter-Korean summit.
Athletes from South and North Korea marched together at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, but competed separately.
The Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, but their ties have warmed significantly following the 2000 summit between the two countries' leaders.—AP
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