Yahoo Sport 
North Korea is sending 230 cheerleaders to the Winter Olympics for just TWO athletes
North Korea is sending 230 cheerleaders to the Winter Olympics to shout for just two athletes.
Although its team hasn’t been confirmed, North Korea is expected to send only two figure skaters to the games in neighbouring South Korea.
Athletes from both nations will march alongside each other during next month’s opening ceremony as the two nations agreed to form their first joint Olympic team, officials in Seoul have said.
Athletes from the two Koreas will march together under a “unification flag” depicting their peninsula during the opening ceremony, and the two countries will field a single women’s ice hockey team.
The event in Pyeongchang begins on February 9 and has been seen as a chance to build bridges between the two nations.
During their third day of talks between the neighbouring countries, senior officials reached a package of agreements.
A joint statement said the North Korean Olympic delegation will travel to South Korea across their heavily fortified land border. The delegation will include a 230-member cheering group, a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team, and journalists, athletes and officials.
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Organisers want these Winter Olympics to be known as the ‘peace games’ – the two countries will present their plans to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the weekend.
The all-female North Korean cheerleading squad is just the tip of the iceberg – the North and the South also discussed the possibility of forming a joint women’s ice hockey team.
Another proposal is to have athletes from both nations march together during the opening ceremony.
The talks about sport are in start contrast to the recent war of words over nuclear weapons – the North is continuing with its missile programme despite UN sanctions.
However, Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono: ‘It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea.
‘The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.’
The ice hockey players themselves weren’t delighted at the proposal of a joint team, mainly because it would involve playing with total strangers.
During a visit to the training camp, South Korean president Moon Jae-in told players: ‘I don’t know if it will happen, but a joint team will be a good opportunity for ice hockey to shed its sorrow as a less-preferred sport as many Koreans will take interest.’
Paik Hak-soon, director of the Centre for North Korean studies at Sejong Institute in South Korea, said: ‘Seeing good results in competitions thanks to the cheering squad would enable the North Koreans to say they contributed to a successful Olympics.’
