Anchor: While exerting pressure on North Korea, South Korea is also attempting to ease tensions by allowing North Korean athletes to take part in the World Taekwondo Championships opening in Muju, North Jeolla Province on Saturday. A 36-member North Korean taekwondo demonstration team arrived in South Korea on Friday and will deliver four performances during its stay. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: With one day left until this year’s World Taekwondo Championships open in Muju, North Jeolla Province, the North Korean taekwondo demonstration team arrived in South Korea on Friday via Gimpo International Airport.
 
According to the World Taekwondo Federation(WTF), the 36-member North Korean team will head toward Muju Saturday, after spending a night in Jeonju.
 
The North Koreans will put on a total of four performances during their eight-day stay, including during the event’s opening and closing ceremonies as well as in North Jeolla Province next Monday and in Seoul next Wednesday.
 
The event, which is the seventh to be held in South Korea, will see the participation of roughly 970 athletes from 183 countries, the largest scale yet.
 
The championships, which will run through next Friday, will include eight weight divisions for both men and women, a WTF General Assembly, a symposium and various sideline events.
 
Attention is being drawn to whether the taekwondo event will play a part in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula given that it is the first inter-Korean sports exchange to take place since the launch of the Moon Jae-in government.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.
 
 

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