The Koreas are set for a women's hockey showdown south of the border next week, a match taking place against the backdrop of increasing tension on the peninsula.
Gangneung, Gangwon Province, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul, will host the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship Division II Group A starting Sunday. Gangneung Hockey Centre and Kwandong Hockey Centre will be the two venues during the April 2-8 tournament, which doubles as a test event for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
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South Korean forward Han Soo-jin (C) battles Hanae Kubo of Japan (R) during the women's hockey game at the Asian Winter Games at Tsukisamu Gymnasium in Sapporo, Japan. (Yonhap) |
South Korea sits 23rd in the current IIHF rankings, three spots above North Korea. The upcoming competition will also feature the Netherlands (No. 19), Britain (No. 21), Slovenia (No. 24) and Australia (No. 28). The top nation after the round-robin play will be promoted to Division I Group B next year, while the last-place nation will be relegated to Division II Group B in 2018.
The much-anticipated Korean match is scheduled for 9 p.m. on April 6 at Gangneung Hockey Centre. They last met in April 2016 at the Division II Group A championship in Slovenia, where South Korea prevailed 4-1.
Their game will come on the eve of a scheduled women's football match between the countries in Pyongyang. These contests could help ease strained inter-Korean relations and exchanges sparked by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, though the South Korean government, which approved the North Korean team's cross-border trip Wednesday, has downplayed the significance of the occasion.
North Korean athletes' visit to South Korea needs Seoul's approval as the two Koreas are technically in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Coached by former US college standout Sarah Murray, South Korea finished in fourth place at last month's Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. It was the country's best result at the continental competition. North Korea didn't play.
Murray has retained the core members of the Asian Winter Games squad, including No. 1 goalie Shin So-jung, top-line forward Park Jong-ah and former Princeton star Caroline Park, a Canadian-born player since naturalized as a South Korean.
Forwards Danelle Im, a Toronto native with Korean parents, and Randi Griffin, who was born in the United States to a Korean mother and an American father, also made the team, as did Marissa Brandt, a Korean native who was adopted by an American family as a child.
South Korea has recruited foreign-born players of Korean descent in hopes of boosting its competitiveness ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics on home ice. South Korea received an automatic berth as the host nation. (Yonhap)
