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Witness History: The Unified Korean Table Tennis Team

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14/06/2018 GMT

The Unified Korean Table Tennis Team

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Unified Korean Table Tennis Team

How ping pong brought together athletes from bitter rivals North and South Korea.

In 1991, amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to field a united Korean table tennis team at the World Championships in Japan. Previously bitter rivals, players from the North and South spent more than a month training together and eventually bonding. Their experience inspired a hit film in South Korea, where ping pong is a very popular sport. Simon Watts spoke to former South Korean women's champion, Hyun Jung-Hwa about being part of that unified team.

PHOTO: The Korean women's team on the podium (Credit: Getty Images)

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