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Remaining N.K. Olympic athletes set to come to S. Korea on plane

January 31, 2018
This photo, provided by the Joint Press Corps on Jan. 31, 2018, shows South Korean non-Olympic skiers waving aboard a South Korean plane bound for the North's eastern port city of Wonsan for inter-Korean ski training at a ski resort in the North. (Yonhap)

This photo, provided by the Joint Press Corps on Jan. 31, 2018, shows South Korean non-Olympic skiers waving aboard a South Korean plane bound for the North’s eastern port city of Wonsan for inter-Korean ski training at a ski resort in the North. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) — Ten North Korean Olympic athletes are set to travel to South Korea aboard a South Korean chartered plane Thursday, together with the South’s skiers who will come home after a two-day joint ski training in the North.

The Asiana Airlines jet will carry the North’s 32-member delegation, including the athletes, when it brings home a South Korean delegation after inter-Korean ski exercises that began Wednesday, according to Seoul’s unification ministry.

The athletes include those in the disciplines of alpine and cross-country skiing, as well as figure and short-track skating. Twelve women’s ice hockey players already have been in the South for training as the Koreas formed a unified women’s hockey team for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The North will send a 46-member delegation, including 22 athletes, to the Feb. 9-25 Winter Games in the South.

Meanwhile, the two Koreas’ skiers will have their second day of training at the Masikryong Ski Resort, located on the outskirts of the eastern city of Wonsan, according to Seoul officials.

The South’s 45-member delegation, including two dozen non-Olympic skiers, arrived at the resort a day earlier, a some 45-minute drive from Kalma Airport, a former military airfield.

The Koreas’ skiers will hold alpine skiing friendly matches and combined training in cross-country skiing in the morning, according to the ministry.

It marks the first time that the two Koreas’ athletes are holding joint training without forming a unified team for international sports events, it said.