MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) — South Korean officials are planning to compensate North Korea’s participation in the 2014 Asian Para Games with $92,800 (98 million won), Global Post reported Friday.
As reported by the news source, the governmental authorities agreed to use the South-North Cooperation Fund to sponsor the North Korean delegation’s last visit for the purpose of facilitating inter-Korean relations and furthering interstate exchanges.
According to the website paralympic.org, the Asian Para Games has been the first sport event hosted by South Korea in which North Korea agreed to participate. The country’s delegation included 29 people and the athletes took part in four sport disciplines — swimming, athletics, table tennis and archery.
North Korea’s participation in the multi-sport competition raised hopes about the potential development of regional cooperation and improvement of relations between the two countries.
“We believe in our motto ‘One Vision, One Mission, One Hope’ in strengthening ties through the enhancement of Para Movement and Games, regardless of our differences,” said President of the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) Dato Zainal Abu Zarin, adding that the sporting event could contribute to the promotion of solidarity and establishment of friendly relations among Asian states.
However, as recently reported by Inside the Games, inter-Korean relations are now characterized by mutual mistrust, with North Korea probing the suspension of the new round of negotiations due to continuing border incidents.
