Witness History
Witness History
The Unified Korean Table Tennis Team
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June 14, 2018
9 minutes
Available for over a year
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. Simon Watts spoke to former South Korean women's champion, Hyun Jung-Hwa about being part of that unified team.
PHOTO: The Korean women's team on the podium (Credit: Getty Images)