SPORTS> 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS
Talks on unified Korean Olympic team delayed
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-20 17:10
North and South Korean talks to form a joint Olympic team are likely to be delayed due to the diplomatic fallout over Pyongyang's decision to test-fire missiles earlier this month, an official said on Wednesday.

The Olympic committees for the two Koreas were scheduled to hold their next round round of talks on Thursday and Friday on forming their first joint team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"It seems like those talks will be delayed," a South Korean Olympic Committee official said.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said they have not been able to contact their counterparts from the North about a schedule for the discussions, adding that tensions over North Korea's multiple missile launches was probably the reason.

North Korean delegates stormed out of a joint-ministerial meeting last week in Pusan, South Korea, after Seoul officials pressed the North to explain why it had defied international warnings and test-fired seven missiles on July 5.

North Korea said Seoul would "pay a price" for souring inter-Korean relations after the cabinet-level talks broke down.

Still technically at war after the 1950-53 war ended without a peace treaty, the two Koreas first considered competing as a joint team at the 1964 Tokyo Games. But years of acrimony and military tensions have kept it as just an idea.

Sports officials from the two Koreas agreed in November 2005 to compete as a single sports team in Beijing and Doha, venue of December's Asian Games.

The two Koreas have marched together at Olympic Games, most recently at this year's Winter Games in Turin, but competed as separate teams.

The discussions on forming a single team also hit a snag on the selection criteria.

South Korea wants a team comprised of the best athletes on the peninsula, while Pyongyang is insisting the team be composed of equal parts South and North Korean athletes.

South Korea, with better funded sports programmes and a population more than double the North's, produces more world-class athletes than its neighbour on the peninsula.