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Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, addresses reporters at Hoban Gym in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Dec. 4. (Yonhap News)

Can South and North Korean national table tennis team members accomplish something special by going from joint training in Seoul to a gold medal as a unified team in the World Team Table Tennis Championships?

With the 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships set to take place in Busan next March, the event is drawing major attention after reports that the Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) recently sent an invitation to North Korea to participate in joint training and to form a unified team.

KTA President Ryu Seung-min, who co-chairs the organizing committee for the Busan World Team Table Tennis Championships next year, spoke with the press on the afternoon of Dec. 4 at Hoban Gym in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, which was the opening ceremony venue for the 73rd National Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Championships.

“North Korea’s participation is of interest not only for us but also for the ITTF,” he said.

“Hopefully we can recreate the glorious and moving moment of the women’s team victory for the inter-Korean unified team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba,” he added hopefully.

Ryu noted that table tennis “has been an event that has played a leading role for inter-Korean relations within sports.”

“While that is one of the aims in our seeking to field a unified team, there is no doubles competition in the world championship team competition (five singles matches), so there would be synergy effect in particular from fielding a unified team on the women’s side,” he said.

Ryu answers reporters’ questions. (provided by Table Tennis Monthly)

“We’re going to need to work together over the long term. Our women’s team has been in a slump, but it’s had some decent results recently, so our hopes are up,” he added.

Ryu explained, “An official invitation and letter were recently delivered to North Korea from the IITF. In terms of content, it first asked whether it can come, and then about forming a unified team and about joint training.”

“We’re planning to wait as late as mid-January of next year [for a response from the North],” he added. “It’s a team competition, so it can’t be any later than that.”

“The group drawing for the team competition takes place on Feb. 20 of next year, so it will need to be decided before that whether there’s going to be a unified team,” he said.

Ryu went on to stress that “a perfect unified team will require adequate training.”

“While we’re going to keep trying to form a unified team, I don’t see it happening suddenly,” he said.

“We’ve gotten enthusiastic agreement from our leaders on forming a unified team,” he added.

“We plan to hear from different people to ensure that South Korea’s athletes don’t suffer as a result of a unified team being formed,” he stressed.

Busan is set to become the first South Korean city to host a world table tennis championship event next year. The team championships, which take place every two years, adopt a format where 72 teams each compete on the men’s and women’s side. They are assigned to three groups by level (24 teams for group), with a group league competition followed by a semifinal tournament to determine the medalists. Around 3,000 officials and squad members are expected to take part. The event is to take place from Mar. 22 and 29 at BEXCO in Busan, where the first gallery has been remodeled into an arena.

Ryu explained that the tournament’s organizing committee is already at work from its offices on the first basement level at BEXCO. He also shared ambitious plans for “a tournament with lots of things to see and enjoy, including table tennis legend matches with players like Jan-Ove Waldner, Wang Hao, Deng Yaping, and Hyun Jung-hwa.” The secretary-general for the organizing committee is Chung Hyun-sook, president of the Korea Women’s Table Tennis Federation and a major contributor to the women’s team gold medal at the 1973 World Table Tennis Championships in Sarajevo.

By Kim Kyung-moo, senior staff writer

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