Koreas to hold talks on Pyongyang s Paralympics participation

Seoul Feb 23 (IANS) South and North Korea on Friday agreed to hold working-level talks next week to discuss Pyongyang s participation in the 2018 Winter Paralympics which will be held in next month Seoul s Unification Ministry has confirmed.

The two sides will meet on February 27 at the northern side of the inter-Korean border to discuss details of the North s participation in the March 9-18 games reports Yonhap News Agency.

At last month s inter-Korean talks the North agreed to send a 150-member delegation to the Paralympics.

Seoul will send a three-member delegation led by Lee Joo-tae a Director-General in charge of inter-Korean exchanges at the ministry to the upcoming talks it added.

The two Koreas have engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed willingness to send a delegation to the February 9-25 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in his New Year s message.

The North has dispatched nearly 500 people including athletes musicians and cheerleaders to the Olympics.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers on Thursday that former North Korean table tennis player Ri Pun-hui a ranking official at the North s governing body for the Paralympics could come to the South.

South Korean table tennis player Hyun Jung-hwa played doubles matches with Ri against China when the two Koreas fielded joint teams at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.

--IANS
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