Teams from North and South Korea marched together as one delegation under Korean Unity Flag at the opening ceremony of 2018 Winter Olympic in Pyongchang, South Korea
Friday, February 09, 2018
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| Opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games on Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea with the participation of North Korean Olympic Team |
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| North Korea’s Jong Su Hyon, left, and South Korea’s Park Jong-ah carry the Olympic torch. (AP) |
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| Yuna Kim lights the Olympic flame during Friday’s opening ceremony. (AP) |
Friday’s Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea was marked with politics and spectacle.
While the animosity between North and South Korea was put on hold as the two delegations marched as one under the skeptical eyes of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, there was no tension on stage as stunning visuals made for a spectacular kickoff to the Winter Games.
Drones lit up the sky in to create remarkable technical visuals that stood in contrast to the humanity of the march of the athletes that gave us the return of the shirtless Tongan and Bermudans wearing Bermuda shorts in frigid temperatures.
But perhaps no moment was as dramatic as the actual torch lighting.
North Korea’s Jong Su Hyon and South Korea’s Park Jong-ah, members of the unified Korean women’s hockey team, stood with the Olympic flame at the bottom of giant staircase looking up at the unlit cauldron atop Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
The two Koreas marched together and South Korea's president shared a historic handshake with Kim Jong Un's sister as the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opened in a spirit of intense rapprochement on Friday.
At a glittering but sub-zero ceremony, South and North Korea brought the crowd to its feet as they entered behind the blue-and-white Korean unification flag.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook the hand of a smiling Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as he entered the VIP seating section, and again as the Korean athletes marched.
It cemented what has been a rapid improvement in Korean ties since North Korea -- after months of fierce nuclear rhetoric and missile tests -- agreed last month to attend its first Olympics in the South.
Kim Yo Jong, the first member of the North's ruling dynasty to venture South since the Korean War, forms part of the highest level delegation ever to cross the border.
South and North Korea last marched together at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. They also made the symbolic gesture at the opening of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in Sydney and Athens. (cited from Yahoo reports).
Read this news from HuffPost on Yahoo News at:
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| South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook the hand of a smiling Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. |
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The Most Dazzling Moments From The 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
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The 2018 Winter Games kicked off Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with an opening spectacle for the ages, complete with dancing, drones, fireworks and even a little diplomacy.
Transmitting an overriding message of peace and harmony, the dazzling variety of routines showcased Korean culture, and parts of it were set to a Korean pop music soundtrack.
Technology took a front seat in the ceremony. with the creative use of elements like more than 1,200 drones lighting up the sky to depict athletes in action.
The Olympic flame was lit toward the end of the opening ceremony, declaring the Winter Games officially open.
Check out some of the opening ceremony highlights:
Dancers perform "The Land of Peace" segment.
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| A tiger on stilts. (Matthias Hangst via Getty Images) |
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| (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV via Getty Images) |
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