North and South Korea hold talks on joint team for Beijing Olympics

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- Sports officials from North and South Korea met Tuesday to discuss forming a single team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a South Korean official said.

During the one-day meeting in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, the two sides hoped to make progress on fielding a unified team, the official with South Korea's Olympic committee said on condition of anonymity.

The two countries, which have never fielded a unified team for an Olympics, are still at odds over how to compose a single team for the Beijing Olympics since their agreement to do so in 2005.

South Korea has insisted athletes should be selected based on performance, while the North wants equal representation.

Athletes from South Korea and North Korea marched together at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and at the 2002 and 2006 Asian Games, but competed separately.

The Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, but their ties have warmed following a 2000 summit between their leaders.