[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Aju News) -- Many South Koreans want athletes from the two Koreas to carry their own national flags when they march together at the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics, according to a survey published Thursday.
The survey of 500 adults in South Korea was conducted by Realmeter, a Seoul-based pollster, on Wednesday when the two Koreas held talks in the truce village of Panmunjom on the dispatch of a North Korean delegation to the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang.
The meeting produced an agreement on a joint women's ice hockey team, a 230-member cheering squad from North Korea, a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team, a joint cultural event at the North's Mount Kumgang resort and a joint training program for skiers at the North's Masikryong ski resort.
At the opening ceremony, South and North Korean athletes will use the so-called Unification Flag, which represents all of Korea. Against the white background, there is a blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula in the center. The flag was first used in 1991 when the two countries competed as a single team in the 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.
However, South Korea's public opinion was split over the use of a unified flag. The Realmeter survey found that 40.5 percent supported a joint march under one flag while 49.4 percent said South and North Korean athletes should carry their own national flags.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has supported a joint march and a unified Korea team as a good start for improving frozen cross-border relations.
Previously, sports games were used to promote inter-Korean reconciliation. North Korea took part in the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea's western port of Incheon. The Koreas have fielded joint teams in table tennis and men's football, but they have never had a single squad in any Olympic sport.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
