Two Koreas march together in #WinterOlympics ceremony

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Yo-jong, during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Yo-jong, during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Published Feb 9, 2018

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PYEONGCHANG – The two Koreas marched together and South Korea’s president shared a historic handshake with Kim Jong Un’s sister as the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opened in a spirit of intense rapprochement on Friday.

At a glittering but sub-zero ceremony, South and North Korea brought the crowd to its feet as they entered behind the blue-and-white Korean unification flag.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook the hand of a smiling Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as he entered the VIP seating section, and again as the Korean athletes marched.

It cemented what has been a rapid improvement in Korean ties since North Korea – after months of fierce nuclear rhetoric and missile tests – agreed last month to attend its first Olympics in the South.

Kim Yo Jong, the first member of the North’s ruling dynasty to venture South since the Korean War, forms part of the highest level delegation ever to cross the border.

South and North Korea last marched together at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. They also made the symbolic gesture at the opening of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in Sydney and Athens.

🔥 Lighting of the Olympic cauldron #PyeongChang2018 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/VzLFLaVLMt

— Olympics (@Olympics) February 9, 2018

“You will inspire us all to live together in peace and harmony despite all the differences we have,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, before Moon declared the Games open. 

Kim Yu-na, South Korea’s former gold medal-winning figure skater, wore skates as she lit the Olympic cauldron, after being handed the torch by two members of the joint Korean women’s ice hockey team – one player from the North and one from the South.

Lee Hee-beom, head of the Games organising committee, said “the North and South have become one through the Olympics”.

Welcome to the Winter @Olympics, South Africa! 🇿🇦

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See more on @pyeongchang2018 here: https://t.co/dtp9Xmqsge pic.twitter.com/Ub1y3mlCY8

— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) February 9, 2018

“Pyeongchang Olympics will become the hope and light for everyone that hopes for peace, not only on the Korean peninsula, but in north-east Asia and the entire world,” said Lee.

In contrast, Russia’s athletes entered the ceremony behind a neutral flag after their team was suspended over a doping scandal. Despite the ban, 168 “Olympic Athletes from Russia” will compete in Pyeongchang.

Just hours earlier, 47 Russians lost a court bid to take part in the Games after they were left off the list of athletes deemed clean from doping.

Shivering athletes are bracing for one of the coldest Winter Olympics on record, with real-feel temperatures plumbing minus-10 degrees Celsius at the opening ceremony.

The Olympic cauldron burns in the distance 🔥 @pyeongchang2018 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/eIeGSpBScL

— Olympics (@Olympics) February 9, 2018

Expectations are sky-high for an array of stars at Pyeongchang, including American skiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn, while the drama in figure skating centres on whether Japan’s “Ice Prince” Yuzuru Hanyu can recover from injury to retain his crown.

Potential winners also include French flag-bearer Martin Fourcade in biathlon, hoping to add to his two gold medals in Sochi in 2014. 

Alpine giant slalom great Marcel Hirscher of Austria is also among the gold medal hunters.

The sensational 15-year-old Alina Zagitova of Russia will take the spotlight in women’s figure skating, where a showdown is expected with her fellow Russian teen, Evgenia Medvedeva.

AFP

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