NPR

North Korea's Olympic Hopefuls Include A Pair Of Figure Skaters

Pair skaters Ryom Tae Ok, 18, and Kim Ju Sik, 25, qualified last year for the Winter Games. They'll learn this weekend if they'll compete in Pyeongchang. Their short program is set to a Beatles' song.
Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik of North Korea perform during their pairs short program in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Sept. 28, 2017.

When South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month, a combined North Korea-South Korea women's hockey team — the countries' first-ever joint team — will attract a lot of attention. So will the sight of athletes from the two Koreas, divided for some 70 years, marching together in the opening ceremony on Feb. 9.

But even before recent border negotiations With International Olympic Committee approval, they will likely compete in Pyeongchang, despite

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