MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2018) South Korea has offered forming joint teams for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its neighbor to the north, South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jong-hwan said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Do and North Korean Physical Culture and Sport Minister Kim ll Guk watched their countries' joint men's rowing team perform at the Asian Games in the Indonesian city of Palembang.
"We [Do and Kim] talked about what to do with unified teams ahead of the Tokyo Olympics ... And we've also exchanged opinions on holding regular inter-Korean sports talks, where we can discuss assembling more joint teams," Do said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
He also invited North Korea to take part in two upcoming sports events in South Korea: the 2019 National Sports Festival in Seoul and the 2019 International Swimming Federation World Championships in Gwangju.
According to Do, North Korean sports officials would discuss the proposals as soon as they return home from the Asian Games.
The two Koreas have also formed unified canoeing and women's basketball teams for the 2018 Asian Games, which happened amid the recent thaw in bilateral relations. While the teams from the two countries did march together during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang, and competed together in women's hockey, they have never formed a joint team for the Summer Olympics.
