North, South Korea to March as One at 2018 Olympic Games

Kieran Hogan, Section Editor World/Politics

North and South Korea will officially march under one flag at the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, announced the South on Wednesday. The decision comes as a major diplomatic achievement for the two states, just weeks after their first diplomatic talks in two years, according to the NY Post.

In addition, the two nations will create a joint women’s ice hockey team, and train for skiing events together in North Korea.

South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, proposed the idea back in June of 2017, but it wasn’t a serious possibility until Kim spoke of dialogue with the south in his New Year’s Day speech.

The diplomatic breakthrough for the peninsula marks a milestone, as tensions have been increasing over the past several years. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stood strongly beside his defensive nuclear program, as the south and the United States continue to hold joint military exercises off the coast of North Korea.

North and South Korean athletes marched together during the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The nations will march together again in the 2018 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)