In a first, marathoners head North

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In a first, marathoners head North

Two South Koreans will run in a North Korean marathon for the first time next month, a marathon team coach said yesterday.
“We hope our participation will start a full-fledged sports exchange between the two Koreas,” said Hwang Young-jo, a marathon gold medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and currently the coach of the Seoul Olympic Sports Promotion Foundation team.
“We have decided to send a five-member squad to the competition, which will consist of two marathoners and three officials,” Hwang said. The two athletes are Jae In-mo and Kil Gyung-sun. The squad will travel to Beijing first on April 5 and transit to Pyongyang.
Their participation comes as the North Korean under-17 football team is in a month-long training session on South Korea’s Jeju Island and the North is moving to abandon its nuclear program under a six-party agreement struck on Feb. 13.
The sports exchanges are expected to restart currently stalled talks between the two Koreas to field a single team at the Beijing Olympic Games next year.
The annual international marathon held in Pyongyang on April 15 commemorates the birthday of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.
Some participants in the competition will come from China, Eastern European and African nations and the course will be prepared along the Daedong River, which runs through Pyongyang, Hwang said.
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