DPRK to Pull Out of a Unified Table Tennis TeamThe DPRK's table tennis body told its South Korean counterpart Wednesday that it wishes to pull out of a unified team for a world table tennis championship scheduled for next month in Osaka, South Korean government officials said.The Table Tennis Association of DPRK told the South's table tennis association that it would be "difficult to reach a full agreement (between the North and the South) at present" on sending a unified team to the 56th world table tennis championships "in terms of preparations," the officials said. The two countries are expected to send their own national teams separately to the Osaka championships, observers said. During South Korean Culture and Tourism Minister Kim Han Gil's visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, the two governments agreed to form a single Korean team for the championships, the officials said. They applied to the International Table Tennis Federation for approval of their participation in the games as a unified team. |
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