SEOUL: The two Koreas on Wednesday agreed to form a united women’s hockey team for next month’s Winter Olympics in the South, the latest in a flurry of cross-border talks.
Following a working-level meeting held at the truce village of Panmunjom, the two sides also announced that their athletes would make a joint entrance carrying a pro-unification flag, according to Yonhap news agency.
A North Korean delegation will visit the South next week to review the facilities at the Games venue, Yonhap reported.
South Korea also agreed to send its athletes to the North’s Masikryong ski resort for training ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics that run through February 9 to 25.
North Korea’s Olympic delegation, athletes, cheering squad, taekwondo delegation and reporters will travel by land through Kaesong, which lies on the main road from Pyongyang to Seoul.
Nuclear-armed Pyongyang agreed last week to send athletes, high-level officials, performers and others to the Pyeongchang Games, taking place just 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the peninsula.
Seoul has long sought to proclaim the event a “peace Olympics” in the face of tensions over the North’s weapons programs — which have seen it subjected to multiple UN Security Council sanctions — and the discussions represent a marked improvement.
Three officials from each side took part and the results will be discussed by both Koreas with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday.
The IOC must approve extra Olympic slots for the North’s athletes after they failed to qualify or missed deadlines to register.
Two Koreas agree on united women’s hockey team for Winter Olympics
Two Koreas agree on united women’s hockey team for Winter Olympics
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Salah unaffected by Liverpool turmoil ahead of AFCON opener — Egypt coach
AGADIR: Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of being distracted by the uncertainty surrounding his future at Liverpool as he prepares to lead Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations, Pharaohs coach Hossam Hassan said on Sunday.
“Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team, and I believe he will have a great tournament with his country,” Hassan told reporters ahead of Egypt’s opening AFCON game against Zimbabwe in Agadir on Monday.
“I feel his motivation is very, very strong. Salah is an icon and will remain so. He is one of the best players in the world, and I support him in everything he does,” Hassan added.
Salah did not start any of Liverpool’s last five games before departing for the Cup of Nations in Morocco and things came to a head following the recent Premier League draw at Leeds United when he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by his coach at Anfield, Arne Slot.
That suggested a move away from the troubled Premier League champions during the January transfer window was a real possibility.
“I don’t consider what happened to him to be a crisis. These things often happen between players and coaches,” Hassan added.
“We’ve been in contact with him by phone from the beginning, and I met with him when he joined the national team camp. His focus is entirely on the tournament.”
Salah, 33, is aiming to lead Egypt to a record-extending eighth AFCON title in Morocco. He has never won the continental title, but ended up on the losing side in final defeats by Cameroon in 2017 and Senegal in 2022.
His goals this year have already helped Egypt qualify for the World Cup.
“Whenever Salah’s performances dip with his club, he regains his strength with the national team and becomes even better, whether by contributing to goals or scoring himself. Then he returns to his club even stronger,” Hassan added.
“He needs to win the cup by helping us and by helping himself.”
Egypt will also face South Africa and Angola in Group B at the Cup of Nations, with all three of their games in the first round being played in Agadir.
