(ATR) A group of 30 taekwondo athletes from North Korea are touring South Korea performing demonstrations with the Olympic-recognized federation World Taekwondo based in Seoul.
The athletes were welcomed at Casa Italia before a performance in Sokcho, a city north of the coastal cluster of Olympic venues in Gangneung.
More than 500 spectators filled the auditorium of a provincial government job training center to watch the one-hour show. About 100 media from Korea were there to document the event.
Although not officially part of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the demonstration in Sokcho drew the presence of IOC vice president Ugur Erdener, who delivered welcoming remarks on behalf of IOC President Thomas Bach.
Erdener was accompanied by a gaggle of IOC colleagues, including Ung Chang of North Korea, Aicha Gerard Ali of Djibouti, rowing fed president Jean Christophe Rolland, Ivan Dibos of Peru and Paul Erik Hoyer of Denmark. Association of Summer Olympic International Federations President Francesco Ricci Bitti and executive director Andrew Ryan also made the journey to Sokcho.
Ban Ki Moon, former U.N. Secretary General and now chair of the IOC Ethics Commission, saluted the moves towards peace brought on by the PyeongChang Olympics.
"We are now going to witness how powerful the sports can bring to promote peace and reconciliation and friendship and harmony between South and North Korea. Let us promote mutual conciliation and harmony through the power of sport," he said.
Around the Rings Publisher Sheila S. Hula was on the scene for the demonstration. Click here to see some of her photos from the day.
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