(Asian Games) Koreas conduct joint wrestling training in Jakarta

JAKARTA, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and North Korea conducted a surprise joint wrestling training session for the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia on Friday.

The wrestlers from the South and the North exercised together at a training facility inside Jakarta International Expo in the Indonesian capital to prepare for the Asian Games, which officially kick off Saturday.

Each wrestling team is supposed to submit its preferred time for training to the organizers. Coincidentally, the South and the North chose the same time slot.

South Korean wrestlers, led by head coach Park Jang-soon, arrived at the training venue first and met with Kim Il, who leads North Korea's wrestling delegation. The two Koreas then started training together after Kim accepted Park's proposal.

Each wrestler then picked his or her training partner. The South's Ryu Han-su, a Greco-Roman wrestler in the men's 67kg, teamed up with the North's Kim Myong-chol. On the women's side, the South's Kim Myung-joo worked together with Kim Son-hyang, who could be her opponent in the women's 50kg freestyle.

"The wrestlers know each other because they've seen each other's faces in international competitions," Park said. "They know who is older and younger, so each of them behave with courtesy."

The two Koreas trained together for about one and a half hours. The wrestlers said they enjoyed the joint training.

"North Korean wrestlers have a strong mindset, and they don't want to lose," Ryu said. "It was good because I was able to learn from them."

Kim Il said he hopes South Korea and North Korea can show united power at the Asian Games. The two Korea will compete as one team in women's basketball, canoeing and rowing.

"Isn't it good to see Koreas training together?," Kim told South Korean reporters. "I hope we can help each other and join hands together in the future. I want South Korea and North Korea to collect many gold medals at this year's Asian Games."

After training, South Korean head coach Park said he proposed to Kim having more wrestling exchanges between the two sides.

"I proposed to Kim that we should train together in Pyongyang and Seoul in the future," he said. "I think we should go through many steps to get there, but hopefully we can get a good result in the end."

The two Koreas, meanwhile, also greed to conduct a joint training session on Saturday.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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