IOC agrees 4 unified Korean teams for 2020 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given the green light on Friday to South Korea and DPR Korea for their four unified teams towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

South Korean Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan, left, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, center, from Germany, and North Korea's Olympic Committee President and sports minister Kim Il Guk, right pose for the grapher prior a meeting with the IOC about their bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics, at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, Friday, February 15, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The Tokyo Games will thus become the first Summer Games in which the Koreas have four joint teams in women's basketball, women's field hockey, mixed team event of judo and six rowing events, should they qualify for the concerned tournaments.

Following a tripartite meeting in Lausanne where representatives from both South Korea and DPRK visited the IOC headquarter to discuss a joint 2032 Olympics bid, it was decided that participation of such unified Korean teams in Tokyo would be based on successful qualification.

An IOC statement said that the Korean governments were also looking into proposing additional unified teams which would have to be submitted before the qualifying competitions in their respective sports, and require approval from the IOC executive board.

IOC president Thomas Bach said it's "one further step showing how sport can once more make a contribution to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world."

During the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last year in South Korea, the Koreas had a joint team in women's ice hockey.

Also in 2018, the Koreas competed as one in women's basketball, rowing and canoeing at the Asian Games in Indonesia.