World

Koreas Join Over Olympics, Thanksgiving

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 10, 2000 / 10:15 AM EDT / CBS

The Olympics and Korea's thanksgiving holiday have become symbols of unity drawing the Cold War foes North and South Korea together.

Following news that athletes from North and South Korea will march behind one Korean Peninsula flag at the Olympics on Friday, a high-level envoy has brought a truckload of mushrooms to Seoul for the traditional Korean thanksgiving celebration.

Kim Yong Sun, the special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, began his four-day visit to South Korea on Monday, saying he hoped his visit would further thaw relations on the world's last Cold War frontier.

"At last, our people took a vigorous step toward reconciliation and unification. We should not stop even for a moment, to say nothing of turning back," he said at a dinner hosted by South Korea's Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu.

During the Olympic opening ceremony at the Sydney Games Friday, the athletes from North and South Korea will march behind one Korean Peninsula flag, reports CBS News Reporter Steve Futterman.

In his opening speech at the 111th IOC session, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch said Sunday it's the first time that will happen at an Olympic opening ceremony.

The two nations fought a bitter civil war between 1950 and 1953 and have never signed a peace treaty.

"The IOC is pleased to announce officially that an agreement has been reached between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic for a joint parade at the opening ceremony," Samaranch said.

"I think symbolism can be very, very important," IOC director-general Francois Carrard told Futterman, "and indeed we hope the world will be watching the opening ceremony."

After the announcement, Samaranch stood hand-in-hand with South Korean member Kim Un Yong and North Korea's Chang Ung.

"This is a very important gesture to show the world the will of the two Koreas to go to unification as soon as possible," Samaranch said.

He said 90 North Koreans and 90 South Koreans would march behind a flag carried by two athletes.

Earlier this year leaders of both countries met for an historic summit and agreed to work for improved ties but tensions along the Demilitarized Zone, the world's last Cold War frontier, remain high.

Seoul's presidential office announced on Sunday that a North Korean political delegation would arrive in South Korea on Monday for a four-day visit.

The two Koreas came close to forming a joint team for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1990 Asian Games in Beijin but were not able to reach a final agreement.

In 1991 they formed a joint team for the world table tennis championships in Japan, the same year as the last big breakthrough in inter-Korean ties when the pair signed what was termed a "Basic Agreement."