S. Korea to support 'proper' costs for DPRK delegation to Asiad

SEOUL - South Korea planned to support "proper" costs for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) 's delegation to be sent to participate in the upcoming Incheong Asian Games, local media reported on Tuesday.

A government official was quoted as saying there were no big differences between the two sides on how much to pay for the DPRK delegation's stay, noting that South Korea will provide a financial support at a proper level after considering the past inter-Korean practices.

The official said it would be impossible for the government to support all the costs, adding that it would pay for the amount not to prevent DPRK athletes from competition in the multi-sports event.

The 17th Asian Games will be held in South Korea's western port city of Incheon from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. The DPRK will send a delegation of 273 people, including 150 athletes as well as coaches, referees and other officials.

The scale would be smaller than a 362-member delegation dispatched to the 2002 Asian Games held in South Korea's southern port city of Busan, when Seoul paid most of the costs for their stay.

The DPRK announced its decision last week not to send its cheering squad to the Asiad, saying the South Korean side took issue with expenses for their stay, which the DPRK had not mentioned, during the July 17 inter-Korean talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.

Regarding this, the official said that if Pyongyang sends its cheerleaders, Seoul will hail their participation, but he noted that the government has no plan to call for the DPRK once again to dispatch its cheering squad.