North Korea hopes to compete in figure skating, Alpine skiing, hockey and cross-country skiing at the Olympics, a PyeongChang 2018 chief organizer reportedly said Thursday.
Lee Hee-beom said the two Koreas agreed on those four sports, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The International Olympic Committee will decide on North Korea’s participation in PyeongChang, given zero North Koreans qualified outright for the Winter Games. The IOC can offer special invitations.
The two Koreas and the IOC are scheduled to discuss the North’s potential Olympic participation on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the two Koreas agreed to march together in the Opening Ceremony and compete as a joint team.
That agreement included North Koreans being added to South Korea’s women’s hockey team.
A South Korean unification minister said the two Koreas agreed to add five or six North Koreans to the 23-player team, according to Yonhap.
Again, the IOC would have to sign off on the agreement, which would put South Korea over the maximum Olympic roster size.
Figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik appear to be the most likely North Korean athletes invited to the Olympics, given they qualified an Olympic pairs quota spot for the nation in September.
North Korea’s Olympic Committee failed to accept the spot by an Oct. 30 deadline, so it instead went to Japan.
North Korea has zero internationally relevant Alpine skiers or cross-country skiers, though those two sports have the most lenient qualifying standards in the Winter Games.
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