North Korean flag hoisted inSouth Korea for Asian Games
South KoreanAsian games officials raise the flag of North Korea during a ceremonyin Busan, 16 September 2001. The North Korean flag for the firsttime was hoisted along with other flags of participating countriesahead of the Asian games which will start on 29 September. AFPPHOTO
SEOUL, (AFP) - A North Korean flag was hoistedfor the first time in South Korea to mark the opening of the AsianGames media center in the southern city of Busan, officials said.
The North Korean symbol was raised withflags of 43 other countries participating in the Asian Games whichrun from September 29 to October 14, said the Busan Asian GamesOrganizing Committee (BAGOC).
The media center in the Busan Exhibitionand Convention Center is composed of a broadcast center and otherfacilities for some 7,000 journalists.
The flag-raising ceremony highlights a thawon the divided Korean peninsula following North Korea's new driveto improve ties with its rival South Korea, Japan and other countries.
"The ceremony underlines our effortsto make the Busan Asiad a historic event which will promote peaceon the Korean peninsula and in Asia," BAGOC spokesman HongJae-Kyun told AFP.
The ceremony was attended by 300 peopleincluding Culture and Tourisim Minister Kim Sung-Jae and BusanMayor Ahn Sang-Young, he said.
"It is the first time a North Koreanflag has been raised in South Korea," Hong said, adding NorthKorean flags would also be raised at the athletes village andother Asiad venues.
The two Koreas are still technically atwar following the 1950-53 conflict.
North Korean flags have been banned in SouthKorea since the birth of a communist regime in the North in 1948,and anyone who unfurls the flag could be jailed under the strictNational Security Law.
Busan organizers waived the ban but carryingNorth Korean flags outside Asiad venues would not be allowed.
The Busan Asiad will mark the first timethat North Korea participates in any sporting event taking placein South Korea. The Stalinist North plans to send 356 delegatesand 300 supporters to Busan.
The presence of North Korea and the world'snewest country, East Timor, will make the Busan Asiad the largestever since its birth in 1951.
East Timor formally became a separate nationon May 20 this year, following a 1999 vote for independence fromIndonesia.
"The use of North Korean flags willcontribute to the successful hosting of the Busan Asiad and progressin inter-Korean relations," Park Jae-Yoon, a civic groupactivist in the city, told Yonhap news agency.
The South has actively sought to use theBusan Asiad to help reconcile with the North, which agreed toput the faltering inter-Korean peace process back on track lastmonth.
South and North Korea have agreed to allowtheir athletes to jointly march for the opening of the Asian Gamesunder a unification flag commonly used by the two sides and decoratedwith the blue Korean peninsula image.
The two Koreas have also agreed to relaya flame, lit from the North's highest peak Mount Paektu, to joinanother flame, lit from the South's highest peak Mount Halla,at the border village of Panmunjom on September 6. The unitedtorch is now travelling across South Korea.