The South Korean government and the Korean Olympic Committee are known to have proposed to the North to form unified teams about six to seven events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

▲ South Korea have proposed North Korea to form a unified team

According to the sports community, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducted the Korea Sports Council to examine the intention of forming a single team for the Tokyo Olympics. About six to seven councils responded to form a unified team. Then, both South and North Korea held a meeting with the sports department at the inter-Korean office in Gaeseong on Wednesday and released a joint press statement consisting of three main contents. The first was to participate in the international game including the Tokyo Olympics.

Although both North and South Korea agreed on forming unified teams, there are still some problems. In order to form a single team for the Tokyo Olympics, South and North Korean athletes must be qualified to participate in the Olympics first. The government and the sports association were reluctant to announce which events were integrated into a single team. However, they said that they will not repeat the same mistake which happened when we formed a unified team for the Pyeongchang Olympics. With the opening of the Pyeongchang Olympics just around the corner, the North and South Korea formed a single women's ice hockey team with active support from the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

▲ North and South Korea formed a single women`s ice hockey team

However, the unified team was under criticism as some Korean players, who secured their own right to participate in the Olympics, suffered damage due to their inability to participate in the games. Also, some argue that two years are also not enough to prepare for the Olympics.

▲ Some argue that it can damage to other players

In response, the government and the National Sports Council decided to form a unified team in a way that is compatible with the public sentiment. Despite their efforts, many people say that damages to South Korean players are inevitable.

November 4th, by Jang Jin Young