[Interview] Captain of unified Korean women’s hockey team recognized for role in inter-Korean peace

Posted on : 2018-07-18 16:42 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Park Jong-ah awarded 20th Hankyoreh Unification and Culture Prize
 Gangwon Province. (Kim Seong-gwang
Gangwon Province. (Kim Seong-gwang

“I always felt rather proud when my friends and family said the seeds of peace on the Korean Peninsula had been sown by the women’s ice hockey team during the Pyeongchang Olympics, but it’s a true honor to be given this prize,” said Park Jong-ah, captain of the unified Korean women’s hockey team that competed in this year’s Winter Olympics. Park was sharing her feelings upon being awarded the 20th Hankyoreh Unification and Culture Prize on July 17.

When Park heard that a unified team was being formed, the first thing she felt was worry. “Learning how to play alongside strangers right before the Olympics begin was easier said than done,” she said.

North Korean coach Pak Chol-ho and the 12 North Korean hockey players joined their South Korean counterparts at the National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 25. The first meeting with the North Korean players was awkward, Park recalled. It wasn’t easy to start a conversation.

“I even resented the fact that we had been placed in such an uncomfortable situation right before the Olympics after we had worked so hard to get there,” she said candidly.

“Before that, the only time we had dealt with the North Korean players was as competitors on the ice, so the mood was chilly. It was awkward and uncomfortable,” Park said. The South and North Korean women’s hockey teams had faced each other in the 2016 and 2017 world championships, with the South Korean side winning both encounters.

But it didn’t take long for the South and North Korean players to become friends, given what they had in common – their youth and the sport of hockey. “The girls from North Korea were sweet and innocent. They gave their all to every second of training. They were energetic, too. Even though most of them weren’t going to actually play, they didn’t whine or complain even once. I could feel how sincerely they wanted to do their part for the team.”

In order to bridge the gap in terminology, South and North Korean players were given a handout of more than 70 terms and memorized each other’s hockey lingo. Differences in lingo only created problems for a few days; the players soon familiarized themselves with the other side’s terms, which facilitated communication.

“We didn’t win any of the five games we played during the Pyeongchang Olympics. Even so, I think that showing the world that South and North Korea can achieve good harmony when they come together was more significant than any victory,” Park said.

During the Olympics, the AFP wire service reported that the unified team had created an unusual moment of reconciliation between the two Koreas, while China’s state-run Xinhua News concluded that the unified team may have lost the game, but that peace had been the victor.

Park said she felt sorry and hurt that she wasn’t able to do more for the North Korean athletes. “I really miss my North Korean friends – on the day they went home, they waved at us and did their best to cheer us up, telling us not to cry.”

Randi Heesoo Griffin is joined by her teammates on unified Korean women’s hockey team after scoring a goal against Japan during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics on Feb. 14 in Gangneung
Randi Heesoo Griffin is joined by her teammates on unified Korean women’s hockey team after scoring a goal against Japan during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics on Feb. 14 in Gangneung

“[Hwang] Chung-gum promised to buy us 100 bowls of naengmyeon [a cold noodle dish] at Okryu-gwan when we visit Pyongyang, and I hope she’ll be able to keep that promise in the near future. I’ll gratefully accept the Hankyoreh Unification and Culture Prize as a gift our North Korean friends have sent to the players back here,” she said.

The Hankyoreh Unification and Culture Foundation instituted the Hankyoreh Unification and Culture Prize in 1999 to honor figures who have contributed to the reconciliation and unification of the Korean People.

“The unified team served to prime the pump, bringing a thaw to frozen inter-Korean relations and causing water to flow again in a parched land. The unified team realized the spirit of peace and reconciliation at a precarious time on the Korean Peninsula,” wrote Koh Gyeong-bin, chair of the review board, in a report that summarized the review.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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