N. Korean cheering squad to support S. Korean athletes during PyeongChang Olympics

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korean cheerleaders, who are set to visit PyeongChang for the Winter Games, will support South Korean athletes in addition to their own Olympians, a senior organizing official said Saturday. "The North Korean cheering squad has agreed to attend events featuring South Korean athletes," the official with PyeongChang's organizing committee said, on condition of anonymity. "These cheerleaders will attend the opening and the closing ceremonies, and obviously the women's ice hockey games featuring the joint Korean team." The two Koreas reached a historic agreement earlier this month, as the North offered to send athletes, a 230-member cheering squad and an art troupe to PyeongChang, host of the first Winter Olympics in South Korea. They also agreed on a unified women's hockey team, with 23 South Koreans joined by 12 North Koreans. But the cheering team could steal the athletes' thunder. Pyongyang has yet to disclose details on how the cheering squad will be composed. But given past athletic competitions in the South, the North may send a group of elite female supporters, who fascinated their southern compatriots in the past with their good looks, charming demeanors and well choreographed moves. North Korea has sent an average of 240 female supporters to three international sports events hosted by the South -- the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon. During the Universiade, North Korean supporters cheered on the South Korean men's volleyball team as it knocked out the United States in the semifinals, and then Japan in the final, to win the gold medal. In addition to women's hockey, North Korea will have athletes in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating and short track speed skating. Indoor events that will have South Korean athletes and not North Koreans are speed skating, curling and men's hockey. "It may be difficult to find tickets for these cheerleaders for some popular events," the PyeongChang official said. "We may be able to use inter-Korean cooperative funds to purchase tickets for them. And once the Olympic Games start, we will determine which events the cheering team will attend." jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)