Joint Sports Event

[Anchor Lead]

A group of some 80 North Korean youth football players arrived in South Korea on Thursday for an international tournament to be held in Gangwondo Province. It marks the first cross-border sports exchange to take place in South Korea since the April inter-Korean summit.

[Pkg]

North Korean footballers arrive in South Korea through the Inter-Korea Transit Office in Paju, Gyeonggido Province.

[Soundbite] Mun Ung(N. Korean Team Chief) : "Arriving in the South, I feel this is my country too and that we are one people."

The young players from the North also express their feelings about visiting the South.

[Soundbite] N. Korean Football Player : "We are same country so I feel good."

They are also determined to seek victory in the tournament.

[Soundbite] N. Korean Player : "(The North's April 25 Sports Club took first place last year. What do you say this year?) We'll finish first!"

The North has sent three teams of some 80 members to the 5th Ari Sports Cup international youth football tournament taking place in Gangwondo Province. North Korea will play China in its first match Sunday. The first inter-Korean faceoff is a women's match on Monday. Depending on the outcomes, the two Koreas' men's teams could also go head to head.

[Soundbite] Kim Gyeong-seong(Chairman, South & North Korean Sports Exchange Association) : "Exchanges in sports are the most effective means of dialogue. As you know, the PyeongChang Olympics led to the April inter-Korean summit."

Around 200 players of eight teams from six countries including China are taking part in the tournament which seeks to facilitate the peace process on the Korean Peninsula that kicked off after the April inter-Korean summit took place.