S. Koreans 'support unified 2018 Olympic team'

A majority of South Koreans support the idea of fielding a unified team with North Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to an opinion survey released on Monday. The South's alpine resort of Pyeongchang won a crushing victory last week in an International Olympic Committee vote to host the even, sparking nationwide celebrations after two previous unsuccessful bids. Gallup Korea said in a poll of 506 people that that 57.5 percent support a unified team of South and North Korean players for the 2018 games, while 30.5 percent oppose the idea. But 73.3 percent said they oppose the idea of co-hosting the Winter Olympics with North Korea. The South's ruling and opposition parties have agreed to try to have the two countries field a unified team and train players jointly. The North in 2007 publicly backed Pyeongchang's bid for the 2014 Winter Games, and athletes from the two nations marched together at the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. But relations have worsened sharply in recent years and there was no joint march in Beijing in 2008. The survey also found that 46.5 percent of respondents picked Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-Na as the person who played the most valuable role in securing the 2018 event. The 20-year-old, who won her gold at Vancouver, worked hard to promote the bid and gave an impressive short performance on an ice rink in Durban where the selection vote was held. IOC member Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, stood second with 19.5 percent followed by President Lee Myung-Bak with 18.6 percent.