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North, South Basketball Teams Begin Play in Pyongyang

by VOA News

   Female basketball players from North and South Korea merged, then split
   into mixed squads Wednesday in the first of two days of friendly games
   in Pyongyang.
   The mixed units - one dressed in white jerseys that read "Peace," the
   other in green that read "Prosperity" - squared off in front of a crowd
   of 12,000 fans at Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium.
   The Prosperity mixed squad eked out a 103-102 victory over the Peace
   squad.The men's mixed squads will tip-off later Wednesday.
   The North and South squads will play against each other Thursday before
   the South Koreans return home on Friday. There is no word on whether
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, an avid basketball fan, will attend
   any of the games.
   This is the first basketball matches between the two Koreas since 2003,
   which took place in Pyongyang in a gym built by South Korean
   conglomerate Hyundai.
   The arrival in Pyongyang Tuesday of 50 male and female South Korean
   players continues a mix of athletics and diplomacy that began when
   Seoul accepted Kim's offer to send a group of athletes to the Winter
   Olympics in PyeongChang in February.
   The two Koreas recently announced they would field joint teams in some
   events at the upcoming Asian Games.