South and North Korea say they will push to form a joint team for the East Asian Judo Championships opening in Mongolia on Saturday.

The Korea Judo Association said that college judokas selected by the Korea University Judo Federation left for Mongolia on Thursday to compete in the championships.

Team North Korea, which arrived in Mongolia on Wednesday, has expressed willingness to field a single team. 

The idea of a joint inter-Korean team was first proposed by the East Asian judo body and the Mongolian Judo Association.

The Korea Judo Association said it is positively considering the idea because South Korean players sent to the championships this time are college students and not the country's national team.