Demoncratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) and Republic of Korea teams are marching side by side at the opening ceremony of the 2006 East Asia Games in Macao.[China Daily]

Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was delighted to learn that discussions regarding the creation of a joint Korean team for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were progressing smoothly

The Olympic Committee of DPRK and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) began talks back in 2004 during the Athens Olympic Games and more recently at a meeting initiated by IOC in Lausanne in September 2006.

"It is encouraging to see sport and the Olympic ideals serving to facilitate the creation of a unified team, and IOC will continue to support the two NOCs in their ongoing efforts and commitment to achieve this historic goal," an IOC spokesman said.

KOC was established in 1946 and the Republic of Korea became an IOC member in 1947. KOC participated in the 1948 Winter Olympic Games even before the South Korean government was founded. The London Olympics was the first summer games that KOC dispatched a national squad.

Since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the South Korean squad has been ranked in the top 10 nations and has been strong in archery, wresting, judo and taekwondo.

One of South Korea's best archers was Kim Soo-Nyung, who was only 17 years old when she won gold medals in both the individual and team archery events before an appreciative hometown crowd at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Kim earned a silver medal in the individual event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and took home another gold medal in the team event. She retired at the age of 21 and over the next seven years, married and raised two children. Kim returned to training in 1999 and qualified for the South Korean Olympic team for the Sydney Games.

She finished third in the individual event to give her a complete set of medals. Finally, she led the team to an easy victory in the team event to bring her gold medal total to four.