hankyoreh

Members of the North and South Korean women’s ice hockey teams pose for a photo along with representatives from the International Ice Hockey Federation at the 2017 Women’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Gangneung

After North and South Korea agreed during high-level talks at Panmunjeom on Jan. 9 to field a unified women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Hankyoreh reporters have learned that the two sides are working on a plan for 15 or 16 North Korean female hockey players to visit South Korea before the rest of North Korea’s athletes to train with their South Korean counterparts.

On Jan. 14, the Hankyoreh spoke on the phone with a source who is familiar with the efforts to set up a unified inter-Korean team. “North and South Korea agreed during the high-level talks on Jan. 9 that if the IOC approves the creation of a unified women’s hockey team, 15 or 16 North Korean female hockey players will come to South Korea at the end of January for joint training with the South Korean team. They agreed to choose about six of the more talented North Korean athletes who play well with the South Korean athletes and add them to the Olympic roster,” this source said.

The roster for women’s ice hockey is 23 athletes, of whom 22 can play in any given game. But if the IOC increases the roster for a unified inter-Korean team to 29, six North Korean athletes could be added to the 23 South Korean athletes currently on the team. “The plan is to create a rotating roster of 22 athletes, including a couple North Korean athletes, to compete in each game to minimize the disadvantage to the South Korean athletes,” the source added.

North and South Korea have reportedly already initiated deliberations to secure the cooperation and approval of the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) based on their agreement to organize a unified team. At the earliest, the North Korean hockey players could visit the South for joint training immediately after the four party meeting with the IOC about the Pyeongchang Olympics on Jan. 20. The four parties consist of the South and North Korean Olympic Committees, members of the Pyeongchang Olympic Organizing Committee, and the IOC.

North and South Korea’s agreement to create their first unified team in the category of women’s hockey in the history of the Olympics, to send 15 or 16 North Korean athletes for combined training and finally to choose six of them to join the unified team is a feasible scenario because of the unique characteristics of the hockey event.

The roster for women’s hockey has 23 slots (including three goalies), of whom 22 can play in a given game. Each side fields one goalie and five field players (two defenders and three forwards). Four groups of five field players are periodically rotated into the game. Because athletes must be nimble on the ice, braking abruptly and rotating rapidly, and must instantaneously exert their energy, muscles get stiff after just 30 seconds of action. As such, all 20 field players get equal time on the ice.

When 15 or 16 North Korean athletes train with the South Korean team, team coach Sarah Murray is expected to select about six of them for the unified team. A roster of 29 players on the unified team (including the 23 players from the South Korean team) is likely to become a reality if the IOC and the IIHF work together to gives the North a wildcard spot.

Limiting the North Korean contingent on the unified team to six players was a pragmatic step aimed at minimizing the disadvantage to South Korean athletes while preserving the significance of a unified team. Too few North Korean athletes would not look like a unified team; and too many could create organizational problems for the team.

The unified team will be playing against Switzerland (Feb. 10), Sweden (Feb. 12) and Japan (Feb. 14) in Group B, and the athletes will be rotated to field a different group of 22 in each game. If two North Korean athletes play in each game, two South Korean athletes will have to take each game off. But since there are three games altogether, those athletes will still be able to play in the other two games.

The Korean female hockey teams have a similar ability level (South Korea is 21st and North Korea 25th), and since South Korea qualified for the Olympics as the hosting country, the team is not expected to win a medal in the Olympics. In terms of their Olympic record, North Korea has an advantage, with two victories and four defeats. This contrasts with the men’s hockey team (South Korea is 21st and North Korea 39th), which is expected to win at least one game in the Olympics and is even hoping for an upset.

The creation of the first unified inter-Korean team in the history of the Olympics is consistent with the spirit of the Olympics movement, the guiding principle of which is world peace. While Germany was divided, East and West Germany sent a unified team to six rounds of the Olympics, from the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

A unified women’s hockey team is also expected to attract the attention of the worldwide media. The shouts of North and South Korean cheerleaders during the final game in the B Group against Japan at 4:40 pm on Feb. 14 is likely to send an especially powerful message to the people of North and South Korea, regardless of whether the game is won or lost.

“I get all emotional just imagining the North and South Korean athletes working up a sweat as they strive to win and then taking off their helmets and greeting the crowd after the game is over,” said one excited executive at a sporting organization that is preparing for the Pyeongchang Olympics.

By Kim Chang-keum, staff reporter

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