Olympic Games opens door 'a little bit' for South Korea and DPRK

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea marched together under a unified Korean flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in PyeongChang, South Korea, Feb. 9, 2018. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Saturday that the handshake between Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of DPR Korea's top leader Kim Jong Un, and South Korean president Moon Jae-in at the Olympic Games opening ceremony was a "historic moment".[Special coverage]

IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters at a press conference, "I think from everyone's point of view it was quite an historic moment: something that, as you know, the IOC have been gently working for since probably 2014. "

He added that the Olympic Games "opens the door maybe just a little bit" and the handshake was "a great symbol and a great indication of maybe how things can be."

"I don't think the Olympic Games or the IOC or the Olympic Movement would think they can solve the problems of the world in an Opening Ceremony. But the Olympic Games is a symbol of how maybe things might be in the world if people who compete can get together and build bridges together. So it was a great moment."

DPR Korean and South Korean athletes marched together under a unified Korean flag in the opening ceremony on Friday night. The athletes also held and waved smaller unified flags aloft in their right hand, smiling in front of 35,000 spectators in the stadium.

The spectators included Kim Yo Jong and Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly.

DPRK and South Korea will also form a women's ice hockey team to compete at PyeongChang.