By Kim Tae Won and Yoon Jihye

North Korean athletes have checked in for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. As the two Koreas finally agreed to the conditions surrounding the North's participation in the Olympics, the door for a real Peace Olympics has now been truly opened.

The delegation of 32 people, including the North's Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u and 10 skiing and skating athletes, landed at Yangyang International Airport at 6:09 p.m. on Feb. 1 on a chartered Asiana Airlines flight and headed to the Gangneung Olympic Village.

Won said, "Fellow citizens from the North send their regards to their fellow citizens in the South."

In addition to the joint team of female ice hockey players formed between the two Koreas, 10 North Korean athletes will compete in four categories in the upcoming Games. Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik will compete in the figure skating pairs, Jong Kwang Bom and Choe Un Song are both short track skaters, Choe Myong Gwang, Kang Song Il and Kim Ryon Hyang are alpine skiers and Han Chun Gyong, Pak Il Chol and Ri Yong Gum will compete in the cross-country skiing.

The female ice hockey team came to South Korea on Jan. 25 and is scheduled to have its first match against Sweden on Feb. 4. The total team of 47 North Korean athletes will have its official welcoming ceremony on Feb. 8, according to the PyeongChang Olympic committee. Athletes from the South and the North will march in the Opening Ceremony together on Feb. 9 under the united Korea flag.

twkim0717@korea.kr