A 280-member North Korean delegation, including cheerleaders and taekwondo demonstrators, will travel to South Korea this week ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Seoul's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday.
The delegation, led by Sports Minister Kim Il-guk, will arrive in the South at around 9.30 a.m., on Wednesday via a western cross-border land route, the ministry added.
The team consists of four officials from the National Olympic Committee, 229 cheerleaders, 26 taekwondo demonstrators and 21 journalists, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The two Koreas have engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare olive branch to Seoul in his New Year's message after a year of tensions sparked by the North's nuclear and missile provocations.
A cheer squad is expected to root for a unified women's ice hockey team, which was assembled under the two Koreas' agreement and approval by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Details about the cheer team have not been released, but North Korea reportedly picks its members by thoroughly examining family background, appearance, skills and loyalty to the government.
The first demonstration will be held as a pre-ceremony event in PyeongChang, the host city of the Olympics, on Friday, followed by one in Sokcho the following day and two others in Seoul on February 12 and 14.
--IANS
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