ASIAN PEACE CUP 2019

[Anchor Lead]

As stalled talks with North Korea appear to be resuming as of now, an international volleyball competition for peace on the Korean Peninsula is underway in Indonesia, with the South and North Korean teams taking part in face-to-face matches. There are hopes that the sports interaction will serve as a new breakthrough in inter-Korean exchange.

[Pkg]

South Korean volleyball players rack up points against their Indonesian counterparts. In the spectator section, North Korean team members check out South Korean players' moves and analyze their strategies. One North Korean staff member even records the game with his camera and another is busy writing down his observations.

[Soundbite] JANG KYONG-SOO(COACH, NORTH KOREAN VOLLEYBALL TEAM) : "They're very good. (Reporter: How do you compare their skills with the North Korean team?) Well, good."

This is the Asian Peace Cup 2019, an international volleyball competition participated in by both South and North Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Inspired by the unified Korean team during the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games, this tournament was organized by the National Sports Committee of Indonesia and the provincial government of Gyeonggi-do. The event aims to boost peace on the Korean Peninsula through sports exchanges. Direct cross-border exchanges between the two Koreas have been almost non-existent since the failed Pyongyang-Washington summit in Hanoi. This sports competition in a third country helped resume inter-Korean exchanges. It's a good opportunity for the volleyball players as well, since they can engage with one another in friendship and sharpen their skills by experiencing overseas training and competition.

[Soundbite] KIM SONG-KUN(COACH, N. KOREAN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM) : "(Will it help to gain experience?) Yes, continued exchange would be good."

The competition features nine games over three days. The South and North Korean men's teams faced off against each other today and the women's game is scheduled for tomorrow. These South-versus-North matches are being aired live for two straight days on KBS.

[Soundbite] CHOI KWI-YEOP(HWASEONG CITY HALL VOLLEYBALL TEAM) : "It's new. I'm looking forward to a good game with the North Koreans."

Plans are underway to host a second round of competition in Pyongyang this October. It remains to be seen whether this sporting event can rejuvenate inter-Korean exchanges.