Seoul: South Korea on Friday agreed to hold working talks with North Korea on Pyongyang’s decision to send a delegation of athletes and cheerleaders to the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon.
The chief organiser of the September 19-October 4 Asiad sent a positive response to the North’s talks proposal through the truce village of Panmunjom, the South’s unification ministry said. The North Korean Olympic Committee had offered to hold the meeting on Tuesday, but the South’s reply suggested on Thursday.
The talks are ostensibly aimed at sorting out logistical matters such as how the North’s delegation will travel to the South and where they will stay. North Korea announced in May that it would send about 150 athletes to take part in the Games in the port city of Incheon.
And earlier this week, it said it would also despatch a delegation of cheerleaders to support the team. Pyongyang boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul but sent athletes and cheerleaders to three later sports events in South Korea, including the 2002 Asian Games.
The cheering squad it sent for the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon included Ri Sol-Ju, now the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. (PTI)
The cheerleaders, made up almost entirely of young women who perform synchronised dance moves, have been a massive draw in South Korea on each occasion. (AFP) AJR 07111620
