North Korea Pyeongchang participation 'great step forward' for Olympics: IOC

LAUSANNE: North Korea's decision to take part in the Winter Olympics in the South was a "great step forward", IOC chief Thomas Bach said Tuesday.

North Korea, which boycotted the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, will send its athletes to the Winter Games in the South, the rivals announced earlier Tuesday after their first formal talks in more than two years following high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

"These proposals mark a great step forward in the Olympic spirit," said Bach.