[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Aju News) -- North Korean female ice hockey players made a landmark trip across the heavily armed inter-Korean border Thursday for training with their South Korean counterparts to form an unprecedented joint Olympic team that has failed to win fervent public support in South Korea.
Aboard a bus escorted by security guards, 12 hockey players, a supervisor and two support personnel from North Korea traveled to an Olympic training camp in Jincheon, some 75 kilometers (46 miles) south of Seoul. They will stay there to prepare for a friendly with Sweden on February 4.
Separately, an eight-member North Korean team led by Yun Yong-bok, a senior sports ministry official, arrived in South Korea Thursday for a three-day trip to inspect Olympic venues and accommodation for athletes, cheerleaders, taekwondo demonstrators and others.
North Korea will dispatch other athletes on February 1, followed by an art troupe and cheerleaders.
There was no fanfare to welcome the North Korea players Thursday as South Korea's public opinion remained split over the joint team. Some people insisted it would be unfair for South Korean athletes to lose a precious playing opportunity or they have become a political scapegoat.
Sarah Murray, the outspoken foreign coach of South Korea's national team, has rapped out obvious complaints, saying her team, backed by imported players from Canada and the United States, is strong enough to produce good results without help from North Koreans.
Under a decision by the International Olympic Committee that North Korea would send 12 players to join the 23-player South Korean squad for the women's hockey tournament, and Murray should put at least three North Koreans into the lineup.
President Moon Jae-in has called for unbiased public support to use North Korea's participation in next month's Winter Olympics as an opportunity to foster an environment for inter-Korean rapprochement. However, his campaign has been largely unsuccessful so far.
A weekly survey published on Thursday showed Moon's approval rating falling to the lowest level since his inauguration in May last year. In a survey of 1,509 people, Realmeter, a Seoul-based pollster, said Moon's approval rating fell to 59.8 percent from 66 percent a week ago, while the negative answer rose from 29.3 percent to 35.6 percent.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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