Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
Table Tennis Unites Korea
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February 3, 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. Sporting Witness talks to former South Korean women's champion, Hyun Jung-Hwa.
PHOTO: The Korean women's team on the podium (Getty Images)