Koreas march together at Olympic opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang kicked off with a spectacular fireworks display that provided a curtain raiser to the 17 day event which will see 3,000 of the world’s best athletes from 92 countries compete in 15 sports.
105 medals are up for grabs in disciplines which include alpine skiing, bobsleigh, and snowboarding.
Present in the 35,000-seater purpose-built Olympic Stadium, situated north east of Alpensia was the South Korean President, the sister of the North Korean leader and the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach who watched on as children in traditional costume sang the South Korean national anthem as the national flag was raised.
North Korea has 22 athletes competing in the games and the opening ceremony saw both the North and South marching together under a united flag which came about as a result of a breakthrough deal.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has for the first time formally invited a delegation from the Holy See to attend the inauguration of these games which are being dubbed the coldest in history.
The delegation is being led by the under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca who said that having athletes from both North and South Korea marching together highlighted “the hope of a better world.”
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea takes place from the 9th to 25th of February.
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