North Korean taekwondo performers returned home on Thursday, wrapping up their nine-day trip to South Korea.
The 28-member group crossed the inter-Korean border to the North via Dorasan Customs, Immigration and Quarantine office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.
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North Korean taekwondo performers and officials return to the North via western land route. (Yonhap) |
The North Korean-led International Taekwon-Do Federation team led by chief Pak Yong-chil participated in a total of four performances organized in celebration of the PyeongChang Olympics. Both Koreas agreed to cooperate for the Olympics after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed willingness to dispatch a delegation to the games during his New Year‘s address.
The taekwondo delegation arrived at the CIQ at 10:48 a.m. in a tour bus provided by the South Korean government. The male members, including Pak, wore dark-navy coats while female members wore burgundy coats. All wore black fur hats and had North Korean flags pinned to their chests.
Asked about their thoughts on the performance and trip, one female member said “Korea is one,” but the rest of the team mostly gave small smiles or replied with a polite “yes.”
There were three boxes labeled “pine boards,” indicating that they had brought some of their own materials from the North. One box was full of flower bouquets presumed to be gifts they had received here.
South Korean spy agency officials were also at the scene to escort the team. One official told a female member “You’re really leaving,” to which she responded with a sad smile.
Three administrative officials are slated to head back to the North via Beijing by air, the same way they arrived here, according to a Unification Ministry official.
The taekwondo demonstration team arrived in the South on Feb. 7 and held four joint taekwondo performances with their South Korean counterparts.
The first show took place at the Olympic Stadium in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 9, as part of a pre-opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics. The second was held in Gangwon province the following day and the other two in Seoul this week.
Taekwondo is Korea’s traditional martial arts that is enjoyed and appreciated widely around the world.
The performances here were watched by many local citizens including National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and other dignitaries.
The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea‘s state-run news agency, said the South Korean crowds were “mesmerized” by the performances.
“Members of the (North Korean) taekwondo demonstration group conducted the team and quintet patterns with dynamic and orderly rhythms and knocked out their opponents with swift actions and strong strikes in the self-defense art, winning the admiration of the spectators.”
The joint show “fully displayed the wisdom and strong spirit of the Korean nation and development of taekwondo techniques,” according to KCNA.
With the taekwondo team’s departure, the number of North Koreans staying in the South for the Olympics is now at 302. This includes athletes, cheerleaders and the press.
The liberal Moon administration on Wednesday approved the use of a special budget of 2.86 billion won ($2.64 million) from the state inter-Korean cooperation fund to cover the costs of the Olympic visits by North Koreans.
By Jung Min-kyung & Joint Press Corps.(
mkjung@heraldcorp.com)
