Koreas will display Olympic unity
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- North and South Korea will be allowed to march together at the opening of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Friday.
IOC president Jacques Rogge enthused in a statement that the joint march will be one of the highlights of the opening ceremony in Athens on August 13.
"It shows that sport can unite and promote peace. It is wonderful to see the two National Olympic Committees putting the Olympic values into practice in such a demonstrable way," he said.
The two countries on the Korean peninsula have a ceasefire along their tension-ridden mutual border.
They marched together under the same flag at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the 2002 Asian Games in Busan and three other international events.
