Table Tennis Unites Korea
How North and South Korea fielded a united Ping Pong team and won the world championship.
Sporting Witness · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
In 1991, amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to field a united Korean table tennis team at the world championships in Japan. Previously bitter rivals, players from the North and South spent more than a month training together and eventually bonding. Their experience inspired a hit film in South Korea, where ping pong is a very popular sport. Sporting Witness talks to former South Korean women's champion, Hyun Jung-Hwa.
PHOTO: The Korean women's team on the podium (Getty Images)