First inter-Korean basketball event held in 15 years
Basketball players in mixed North and South Korean teams compete in a game at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang, Wednesday. / Pyongyang Joint Press Corps
By Kim Bo-eun, Pyongyang Joint Press Corps
South and North Korea held goodwill basketball matches in Pyongyang, Wednesday, for the first time in 15 years.
Teams comprised of players from both the South and the North competed against each other, under team names “Peace” and “Prosperity” at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium, which was filled with around 10,000 North Korean spectators and the sound of cheering.
“Through the Panmunjeom Declaration reached April 27, the South and North are marching toward a new era of peace and prosperity, and inter-Korean sports exchanges are leading the progress,” Unification Minster Cho Myoung-gyon, who led the South Korean delegation to the North, said ahead of the games.
“The achievements of this event will also lead to good results for the Asian Games in August and inter-Korean basketball matches to be held in Seoul in the fall.”
North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il-guk said, “By successfully hosting today's match, I believe this will serve as an occasion to boost exchanges and cooperation among athletes from the North and the South.”
Aside from promoting a sense of comradeship, the matches are set to help determine the levels of performance by North Korean players, which is necessary for drawing up joint teams for the Asian Games.
A 101-member delegation from the South arrived in Pyongyang, Tuesday. They were welcomed with a dinner reception.
North Korea's ruling Workers' Party's official newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, reported the following day, “Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u and other officials warmly welcomed the South Korean delegation with brotherly affection at Pyongyang International Airport.”
The South Korean delegation will leave Pyongyang after the two-day basketball event.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un proposed sports exchange to President Moon Jae-in during their April 27, suggesting it begin with basketball. Kim is known to be a great fan of the game.
This was the fourth inter-Korean basketball competition to be held since 1999. Hur Jae, a former basketball player who took part in the competition in 2003, participated in the event this time as a coach.
Meanwhile, a report by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, said North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il-guk invited Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to Pyongyang to discuss inter-Korean cooperation in sports.
The invitation was made through Korean Sport and Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung at an International Olympic Committee's Olympic Day event in Lausanne, Switzerland, last month, the report said.
Since 2015, the mayor has been seeking to resume a Seoul-Pyongyang football competition, which dates back to 1929 before the Koreas became divided. The last competition was held in 1946, but inter-Korean football competitions were held under a different title in 1990 and 2002.
The sports minister and Seoul mayor may discuss resuming the football competition as well as North Korea's participation in the National Athletic Competition in the South to be held in October.
As part of inter-Korean sports cooperation, the South and North will field joint teams for the Asian Games to be held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, in August. They will make a joint entrance at the opening ceremony under a flag symbolizing a unified Korea, as the Korean traditional folk song “Arirang” is played instead of national anthems.
Fielding joint teams for the Asian Games was among the agreements in the Panmunjeom Declaration reached at the inter-Korean summit.