The two Koreas have agreed to field a single team for the 2006 Asian Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The agreement was reached Tuesday during talks between sports officials from the two sides in Macao on the sidelines of the ongoing East Asian Games.

Shortly after the meeting, the head of the South’s delegation and Vice President of the Korea Sports Council Kim Jung-haeng told reporters that the meeting was significant in that two sides decided to put the agreement in writing and hold further talks on the matter.

Kim added that sporting delegates will meet again in the North’s border city of Gaesong in December to discuss details regarding the unified team, including the selection, squad formation and training of athletes.

Officials are hoping that the agreement will help advance inter-Korean sports-related cooperation.

The two Koreas previously fielded unified teams for the World Table Tennis Championships and an international youth soccer competition, both in 1991. They also marched together in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney and the 2004 Athens Olympics.