Unified Korean sporting teams

History

Since the conclusion of the Korean War, North and South Korea have existed as separate countries, with both claiming to be the sole legitimate government of all Korea. Both nations participate in international sport as individual countries; unified teams are exceptions to this practice rather than the norm. Joint teams have been seen as geopolitical gestures.

A unified team under the name Korea (KOR) competed in 1991 World Table Tennis Championships and FIFA World Youth Championship with athletes from both North and South Korea. In 1991, the team used the Unification Flag and the anthem "Arirang".

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in South Korea, the Koreas marched together at the Parade of Nations under the Unification Flag. A unified team played in the women's ice hockey tournament as Korea under the IOC country code COR, using the Unification Flag and the "Arirang" anthem. For other disciplines, the two Koreas retained separate national teams. At the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, the two Koreas entered separate teams, but when they were paired against each other at the quarter-final of the women's event, they negotiated instead to field a joint team for the semifinal, with the agreement of the International Table Tennis Federation.

The two Koreas also initially agreed to form a unified Korea team at the 2018 East Asian Judo Championships in Mongolia. Plans to compete under a unified flag were eventually scrapped due to a dispute over the flag.

Four unified teams also participated in the international table tennis event, 2018 Korea Open. The unified Korean women's doubles team won gold, the first gold medal won by a unified Korean team since the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships, while the unified men's doubles team won bronze.

FIBA allowed the participation of unified Korean team at the 2019 FIBA Women's Asia Cup. However, no unified Korean team entered the basketball tournament.