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S. Korean table tennis legend hoping for unified teams with N. Korea at worlds, Olympics

All News 20:56 September 16, 2018

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean table tennis legend Hyun Jung-hwa said Sunday she'd like to see the Koreas field joint teams at both the world championships and the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Hyun, an Olympic gold medalist in 1988 and three-time world champion, was included in a 52-person entourage that will accompany President Moon Jae-in during this three-day visit to Pyongyang beginning Tuesday.

In this file from from July 15, 2018, South Korean table tennis legend Hyun Jung-hwa (C) speaks with reporters at Incheon International Airport while awaiting the arrival of North Korean players ahead of a competition in the South. (Yonhap)

In this file from from July 15, 2018, South Korean table tennis legend Hyun Jung-hwa (C) speaks with reporters at Incheon International Airport while awaiting the arrival of North Korean players ahead of a competition in the South. (Yonhap)

Three other sports figures will be joining her: Lee Kee-heung, head of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee; Cha Bum-kun, former star forward and head coach of the South Korean men's national football team; and Park Jong-ah, captain of the unified Korean women's hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

On her visit, Hyun said, "I've been speaking all along about the need to promote inter-Korean exchanges in table tennis, and I'd like to make at least some contribution to sports exchanges in general."

Hyun, who is now coaching a semi-pro club in South Korea, was a member of the unified Korean team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan. Hyun's women's team upset China for the gold medal then, and with South Korean city of Busan hosting the world championships in March 2020, Hyun said she'd like to see the Koreas join forces again.

"If I have an opportunity to voice my opinion (in Pyongyang), I'll tell people that we should have a unified team at the 2020 world championships," Hyun said. "Then we can think about competing as one at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2020. I hope the players will have plenty of time to train together and prepare for the Olympics."

The Koreas have already competed under one flag at two competitions this year. At the world championships in Sweden in May, South Korea and North Korea were scheduled to face each other in the quarterfinals. But they decided to combine their teams instead and advanced to the semifinals as "Korea." They lost to Japan to take bronze medal.

Two months later in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, the Koreas fielded four unified teams in the men's and women's doubles and the mixed doubles at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Platinum Korea Open. The mixed doubles duo of Jang Woo-jin (South) and Cha Hyo-sim (North) captured gold medal.

Hyun said she would like to see North Korean players participate in South Korean domestic events, so that their table tennis exchanges won't just be a one-time thing.

On a personal note, Hyun is also hopeful of a long-awaited reunion with North Korean table tennis star Li Bun-hui, Hyun's doubles partner at the 1991 world championships and currently secretary general of the North's Paralympic Committee.

In this file photo from June 27, 2018, former South Korean football star Cha Bum-kun speaks with reporters at the media center at Kazan Arena in Kazan, Russia, during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. (Yonhap)

In this file photo from June 27, 2018, former South Korean football star Cha Bum-kun speaks with reporters at the media center at Kazan Arena in Kazan, Russia, during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. (Yonhap)

"It doesn't matter when and where. I just want to see her again," Hyun said. "I haven't seen here since the 1993 world championships in Gothenburg (in Sweden)."

The two have missed a few opportunities to finally cross paths.

Hyun traveled to Pyongyang in 2005 for a celebration of the fifth anniversary of the joint declaration between the Koreas but couldn't meet Li. Hyun was at the 2012 London Olympics as South Korean head coach but returned home for personal reasons before Li went there for the Paralympics.

At the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea's Incheon, Hyun had been named mayor of the athletes' village but a drunk-driving accident forced her to resign. Li had been scheduled to visit for the Asian Para Games but suffered serious injuries in an auto accident and couldn't recover in time for the trip.

Li was expected to visit PyeongChang for the Winter Paralympics in March this year but didn't cross the border.

Cha Bum-kun, former scoring star in the top-flight German league Bundesliga, is expected to be part of discussions on co-hosting of a future FIFA World Cup.

Chung Mong-gyu, head of the Korea Football Association (KFA), met with representatives from North Korea, Japan and China and proposed a four-nation World Cup in 2030 or 2034. Seoul's sports minister, Do Jong-whan, made the same proposal to his Japanese and Chinese counterparts during their trilateral meeting in Tokyo last Wednesday.

Park Jong-ah, who captained the first unified Korean sports team in Olympic history seven months ago, could be reunited with her former North Korean teammates.

The squad in PyeongChang had 23 South Korean and 12 North Korean players. Park and North Korean forward Jong Su-hyon carried the Olympic flame together during the opening ceremony.

In this file photo from Feb. 21, 2018, Park Jong-ah (L), captain of the unified Korean women's hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, speaks at a press conference at Team Korea House in Gangneung, 230 kilometers east of Seoul. (Yonhap)

In this file photo from Feb. 21, 2018, Park Jong-ah (L), captain of the unified Korean women's hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, speaks at a press conference at Team Korea House in Gangneung, 230 kilometers east of Seoul. (Yonhap)

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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