South and North Korea have agreed to field joint teams in several events at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The agreement was reached by officials today at the inter-Korean liaison office just north of the border.
The joint teams will be in events where two Koreas have competed together before, and South and North will march in together at the opening ceremony.
Seoul and Pyeongyang have also agreed to go ahead with a bid to co-host the Summer Olympics in 2032, starting with a letter of intent to the International Olympic Committee.
The two Koreas will continue to sort out the details through additional meetings and the exchange of documents.
On Friday, President Moon Jae-in has spoken on the latest friction between Seoul and Tokyo over their fraught history.
While meeting with lawmakers part of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, President Moon said the Korean victims of Japan's forced labor do have the right to claim compensation from Japanese firms.
Moon also said the issue of forced labor by Japanese firms is the judiciary's ruling, and just like Japan, Korea respects the separation of powers between the three branches of government.
On the shutdown of a Japan-funded foundation to compensate Korean women forced by Japan into sexual slavery, President Moon said he hopes to consult with Tokyo to come up with ways to use the money that's already been sent.
The South Korean leader also spoke about future ties with Japan, saying that the feelings of the people of the two countries should not be hurt, and calling for prudence in handling such sensitive issues.
More forced labor lawsuits ruled in favor of South Korean plaintiffs,
Gwangju District Court on Friday dismissed Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' appeal on the court's first ruling on the case.
Back in 2017, the court had ordered the firm to compensate around 106-thousand U.S. dollars to one plaintiff and some three thousand dollars to a family member of another victim who is now deceased.
This is the third group of the forced labor lawsuit of Korean women, who worked as "volunteer labor corps" during their teens at the Mitsubishi's munition factories back in 1944, without getting any pay.
The first group of these women finally won at the Supreme Court in late November and the second group also won the appeals ruling earlier this month.
A South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War Two died on Friday at the age of 92.
Gender Equality Minister Jin Sun-mee expressed condolences for the victim and said she would use all the resources available to help take care of the well-being of other victims.
With Lee's death, there are only 25 victims registered with the Korean government who are still alive.
A team of South Korean officials returned home on Thursday from a three-day trip to North Korea, that focused on pushing ahead with the joint inter-Korean forestry project.
Seoul's Unification Ministry says the two sides held working-level talks that focused on ways to modernize tree nurseries and control pests.
During the trip, they also inspected tree nurseries in the North's Hwanghaebuk-do Province and Pyeongyang, as well as factories that make forest-related equipment.
Based on the inspection, they will work on a detailed plan for their joint forestry cooperation, after seeking advice from organizations and experts in the field.
Source: Arirang News
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