The debut against Switzerland came just 24 hours after an extraordinary opening ceremony a few miles away was marked by signs of unity between the two rivals.
Like the ceremony, the game included dignitaries from North and South in close proximity.
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, was watching with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to Moon's office. They were joined by North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.
The North Koreans have invited Moon to visit Pyongyang in what would be the third inter-Korean summit talks since their 1945 division.
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Coach Sarah Murray played three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the team; she had to scratch three of her South Korean players for the game.
Dozens of North Korean cheering group members dressed in red were at the Kwandong Hockey Center to root for the Korean team.
Earlier, hundreds of spectators lined the streets outside, chanting and waving small "unification flags" amid gusting, chilly winds. One man held up a sign that read, "The peace of all mankind."
Fielding the joint hockey team was one of the key agreements the Koreas have struck after several rounds of talks at the border on how to cooperate during the Olympics, which run through February 25.
Athletes from North and South paraded together during the ceremony in the same white parkas, marching under a single "unification flag" depicting an undivided peninsula to the tune of their shared traditional folk song "Arirang" instead of their respective anthems. It was their first joint march since 2007.
The North initially had no athletes coming to the Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee allowed 22 as special entries. Twelve female hockey players joined the 23-person South Korean team.
The players have been the subject of intense scrutiny and the team was thrown together only two weeks ago, with limited time to practice.
There was early criticism in South Korea that the new players would throw off team chemistry and cost South players time on the ice after working together for months to shine on the sport's biggest stage.
The team's Canadian coach, Sarah Murray, initially expressed frustration over a team assembled so close to the Olympics, but she has recently said she is happy with her new players on a team she says now feels like family.
The Koreas often use sports to find a breakthrough in their strained relations. The ongoing rapprochement mood flared after Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's Day address that he was willing to send an Olympic delegation.
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