INCHEON: The first batch of North Korean officials and athletes taking part in the upcoming Asian Games touched down at Incheon airport on Thursday to be welcomed by a small group of unification activists amid a heavy security presence.

The North is sending 150 athletes to compete at the multi-sport event in Incheon, west of Seoul, and Thursday’s Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang carried football players and rowers as well as referees, medical staff and members of North Korean media.

The remainder of the North’s delegation to the Sept 19 to Oct 4 Games will arrive on five flights over the next couple of weeks.

Tensions between North and South Korea are high and the two states are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

While Asian Games organisers have had to take down some flags of countries competing in Incheon due to complaints from conservative groups and concerns that North Korean flags might be damaged, there was no sign of protests at the airport.

A group of 20 to 25 activists sang pro-unification songs and chanted: “We are one!” in Korean, waving small united Korea flags in front of a ‘welcome’ banner.

The group cheered when they saw the athletes, who emerged wearing white blazers that sported the North Korean flag and loyalty badges with the faces of the country’s former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

The athletes looked calm and composed, despite the massive media scrum and barrage of camera flashes, offering the odd wave and smile back to the crowd, though there was very little interaction.

A huge security presence lined the route between the gate and the road outside where buses waited to take the delegation to the athletes village.

Undercover security personnel with earpieces were also seen mingling in the crowd.

The timing of the North Korean delegation’s arrival almost coincided with that of a group of US military personnel on a flight from Detroit with their kitbags and families in tow. The groups missed each other by minutes.

North Korea won six gold medals at the 2010 Guangzhou Games in China and will be targeting a top 10 finish in the medal table in Incheon.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014