DPRK will send 273 to Asian Games

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said on Friday that it will send a 273-member team, including 150 athletes, to the 2014 Asian Games to be held in the Republic of Korea's western port city of Incheon next month.

The DPRK sent the message through its delegation, which came to Seoul to join the group drawing for the upcoming Asian Games scheduled for Sept 19 to Oct 4, ROK Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do said in a news conference.

The DPRK "has proposed the two sides discuss details through documents changing hands," Kim told journalists.

"The (ROK) government has accepted this proposal and it will plan to engage in necessary consultations with the North," he said. No date has been set for the talks.

The DPRK team would number fewer than 352, including 150 athletes, it was announced earlier this month. Though the number of athletes remained unchanged, fewer coaches and other staff members would go to the Games.

Kim added there was no mention of the 350 cheerleaders - the immaculately drilled troupe that usually accompanies the DPRK's sports teams - which Pyongyang previously proposed.

The DPRK said it will discuss issues concerning its participation, including who will pay for the DPRK athletes' stay, via the exchange of letters as the ROK and the United States launched their joint military exercise as planned despite the DPRK's strong objection. The exercise, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which began on Monday, will run through Aug 29.

The ROK military has maintained that the drill is an annual event of defensive nature, but Pyongyang has denounced that it as a rehearsal for an invasion to the DPRK.

In mid-July, the two neighbors in the Korean Peninsula held talks for the DPRK's participation in the Asian Games, but reaching no agreement.

Xinhua - AFP

(China Daily 08/23/2014 page11)