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Koreas march together at Asian Games, still working on plan for 2008 Olympics

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-02 14:23

DOHA, Qatar _ North and South Korea marched together at the opening ceremonies of the Asian Games, but remained at odds over whether _ and how _ to field a joint team for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

The combined North and South Korean delegation led by flag bearer Lee Kyu-sup enters the Khalifa Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games in Doha December 1, 2006. [Reuters]

The Koreas marched Friday under a blue-and-white unification flag at the ceremonies in Doha. South Korean men's basketball player Lee Kyu-sup carried the flag with North Korean women's soccer player Ri Kum Suk.

Representatives from the two Koreas held two days of meetings ahead of the opening of the Asian Games and finalized their plan to march together. But discussions of the team for Beijing were inconclusive, and will continue later, although the time has not been set, a South Korean Olympic Committee official said.

The Koreas have marched together eight times since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but the North's recent test of a nuclear weapon has deepened the rift between the two, which are still technically at war following the armistice that ended the Korean war in 1953. Their border remains one of the most heavily armed in the world.

North Korea was harshly criticized, and hit with sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, for its October 9 nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile test-launches in July.

Tension over the tests nearly scuttled plans for the two nations to march together here. North Korea had proposed the joint march, but South Korea expressed reservations until the last minute.

Forming the unified team for Beijing remains a tougher issue.

The two Koreas have never fielded a unified team for an Olympics, and after the latest round of talks in Doha appeared to be far apart on what to do about Beijing.

Along with political concerns, the two sides differ on how to select members of a joint team. The North is seeking a fixed percentage for its athletes, claiming that they are at a disadvantage because the South Koreans have more money for training facilities and greater opportunity to compete internationally. In particular, the two are at loggerheads over how to select teams for such sports as soccer.

The Asian Games continue through December 15.