DPRK table tennis players arrive in ROK to compete in int'l event

SEOUL - Table tennis players of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived here on Sunday to compete in an international table tennis event hosted by Republic of Korea (ROK), local TV footage showed.

The DPRK delegation, composed of 16 players and nine officials, landed at the Incheon International Airport at about 12:10 pm local time (0310 GMT) via Beijing.

During the inter-Korean talks earlier this month, Pyongyang agreed to send its table tennis delegation to compete in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Platinum Korean Open slated for July 17-22 in Daejeon, 160 km south of the capital Seoul.

The DPRK dispatched its players to South Korea-hosted sports events, including the Asian Games held in 2002 and 2014, and the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February this year.

A separate DPRK sports delegation, composed of 21 shooters and supporting staff, will come to the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Shooting Championships scheduled to kick off in August in Changwon, 400 km southeast of Seoul.

ROK President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un agreed to increase sports exchange during their first summit on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom.