2 Koreas May Unite for ’90 Games

North Korea proposed to South Korea today that they end decades of bitter rivalry and send a combined team to the 1990 Asian Games in China.

Senior sports officials in Seoul reacted quickly and favorably to the plan, which would unite Korean athletes for the first time since the peninsula was divided after World War II.

North Korean Olympic Committee Chairman Kim Yu Sun sent a letter to his southern counterpart suggesting that the two Koreas hold talks in February to work out details of a combined team for the Beijing games.

“We should no longer commit such abnormal acts as staging competition between the same brethren in international arenas,” the letter said. “Therefore, we must first resolve the problem of forming a single team and jointly participate in the 11th Asian Games.”

A senior Western diplomat said the proposal sounded constructive but the two sides would have to overcome serious problems such as a name for the team, its flag and anthem.

A joint team would demonstrate to the world the will of Koreans to reunify the peninsula, Kim said. He proposed the talks be held in the border village of Panmunjom.