North Korean ice hockey players have arrived in South Korea to form an inter-Korean women’s ice hockey team for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 

The 15-member ice hockey team comprising 12 athletes, a head coach and two support staffers crossed the inter-Korean transit office at Dorasan train station on the western border at around 9:20 a.m. Thursday.

The team will head to Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, where the South Korean training base is located. 

The North Korean players will join the South Korean ice hockey team for joint training before a friendly match with Sweden on February fourth.

A separate North Korean delegation also visited South Korea on Thursday for a three-day trip to prearrange accommodations for North Korean athletes, cheerleaders and Taekwondo demonstrators during the PyeongChang Olympics. 

The eight-member advance team, led by Yoon Yong-bok, a deputy director at North Korea‘s Sports Ministry, first headed to Gangwon Province to inspect lodgings for North Korean cheerleaders. One potential site mentioned was the Inje Speedium in Inje County. 

Afterwards, they are expected to check out major Olympic venues in Gangneung, including the Ice Arena, Athletes' Village and Hockey Center.

On Friday, they are slated to inspect the International Broadcast Center, PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, Alpensia Cross-Country Center and Yongpyong Ski Resort.

On the final day of their trip on Saturday, the North's officials will head to Seoul to look at a hotel where their Taekwondo athletes can stay. They will then visit MBC's headquarters in Sangam-dong in western Seoul, which is a potential venue for the North's Taekwondo demonstration.