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Two Koreas draw 1-1 in friendly table tennis competition

November 27, 2019

South and North Korea quietly wrapped up a rare inter-Korean encounter in a friendly table tennis competition held in Russia on Wednesday.

The men’s team from Seoul beat Team Pyongyang 3-2 on the second day of the Eastern Champions Cup at the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service.

The victory helped the South Korean team tie the Seoul-Pyongyang match 1-1 after a 3-2 defeat of the women’s team the previous day.

The inter-Korean match took place in a calm and quiet atmosphere as the event came in the midst of tensions on the Korean Peninsula stemming from a stalemate in nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea.

The inaugural Eastern Champions Cup, co-organized by Seoul and Russia’s Primorsky Krai (Maritime Territory), is a regional table tennis competition of teams from the capitals of the five countries — the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan.

Table tennis has played a role in improving the inter-Korean relations over the past decades. The two Koreas joined hands in earning a gold medal with a unified inter-Korean team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.

The three-day tournament will close on Thursday.

Athletes from Seoul and Pyongyang play table tennis during the Eastern Champions Cup held at the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service on Nov. 27, 2019. (Yonhap)

Athletes from Seoul and Pyongyang play table tennis during the Eastern Champions Cup held at the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service on Nov. 27, 2019. (Yonhap)