North Korean athletes and officials for the PyeongChang Paralympic Winter Games returned home on Thursday. 

The 24-member delegation returned via the inter-Korean transit office on the western border after leaving the athletes' village at around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. 

In the North’s first-ever participation in a winter Paralympics, two North Korean para Nordic skiers, Ma Yu-chol and Kim Jong-hyon, competed while four other athletes came as observers. 

The delegation returned home early without staying for the closing ceremony on Sunday.