* Women's ice hockey team "furious" over plan: official
* Sports officials say rosters would expand to include
N.Koreans
* Petition opposing plan gathers thousands of signatures
By Heekyong Yang and Josh Smith
SEOUL, Jan 16 (Reuters) - While Seoul forges ahead with
plans to use the upcoming Winter Olympics to showcase
inter-Korean unity, some South Korean athletes are "furious" at
proposals to form joint teams with North Koreans, highlighting a
broader lack of enthusiasm for some of the government's
peace-making plans.
Officials from both countries are still engaged in talks
over exactly how the North will participate in next month's
games in Pyeongchang. But the backlash may trip up Seoul's plans
to use the sporting event to improve bilateral ties after a year
of high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile
programmes.
South Korea's women's ice hockey team was the first to be
singled out for possible integration with North Koreans, with
Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan saying the government would ask
Olympic organizers to expand the team's roster from 23 to more
than 30.
That came as a shock to team members, who had just returned
to South Korea last Friday after training in the United States
for the past three weeks, a senior official with the Korea Ice
Hockey Association said.
"They were just furious and found the idea absurd," the
official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "We are utterly
speechless that the government just picked us out of blue and
asked us to play with total strangers at the Olympics."
The proposal has also sparked an outcry from thousands of
South Koreans, who have signed online petitions asking the
presidential Blue House to drop the idea.
"I cannot help but think the government is abusing its power
to make political gains from the Olympics," said one comment on
the petition. "Taking roster spots from South Korean athletes
who have put so much effort for the Olympics - a dream stage for
all South Korean athletes - for the North Koreans is not fair at
all."
More than 70 percent of South Koreans oppose forming a joint
team with the North, according to a Jan. 11 survey released by
the office of the South's National Assembly Speaker and
television network SBS. More than 80 percent, however, said they
welcomed the North's participation in general.
A spokesmen for the Blue House referred questions to the
ministries involved in the talks with North Korea.
The sports ministry said it was discussing the matter with
the International Olympic Committee to "minimize any
disadvantage" for the South Korean team.
"We will also be taking the public opinion into
consideration prior to making the final decision," a ministry
official told Reuters. The unification ministry declined to
comment.
INTERNAL DIVISION
The public backlash underscores how North Korea diplomacy,
which has often come in the form of one-sided assistance from
Seoul, remains a source of bitter division and contention within
South Korea. The two countries are still technically at war
because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in truce, not a peace
treaty.
Liberal President Moon Jae-in wants to revive ties with
North Korea that froze under nearly a decade of conservative
rule in the South. His administration has proposed the two
Koreas make a show of unity at the Games, marching together at
the opening and closing ceremonies and competing together as one
nation.
But South Korea's ice hockey association hasn't heard much
from the politicians spearheading those plans, other than being
told by the sports ministry to "get prepared," the senior
official said.
"Honestly, we have no idea what's going on. Frankly, I do
not know what they meant by to 'get prepared' since we do not
have any channels to talk to the North Korean team," the
official said.
Among the issues to be worked out are the roster, game
strategies and the appointment of a head coach to lead the joint
team.
"None of these crucial and basic issues have been discussed
at all. And the South Korean team's first tournament in the
Olympics is only three weeks away," the official said. "Can you
believe this? None of this makes any sense."
The association did not make athletes available for
interviews, saying they were in the final round of training
before their first game on Feb. 10.
Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan has defended the proposal for a
joint ice hockey team, arguing that by expanding the roster, no
South Korean athletes would be left out.
South Korea will have the "coaching rights" for the team as
well, he said during a parliamentary session on Monday, and the
unified team would not "hurt South Korean athletes and their
team capability."
PUBLIC SKEPTICISM
Choi Moon-soon, governor of Gangwon province, where the
games will be held, said the negative public views may be the
result of frigid inter-Korean relations under previous
conservative administrations. But he added that public opinion
would change once North Korea attended the games.
"The two Koreas have marched at nine games so far, and the
world gave its blessing to the two Koreas," Choi said. "There
were few people who opposed that."
But Kim Dae, a 26-year-old engineer in Seoul, said there was
no clear point in having a unified team.
"I do not understand what this united team is for. It almost
feels like two different teams are forced to play together at
the Olympics," Kim said. "Who's benefiting from this joint team
anyway?"
A separate Jan. 8 poll by Realmeter found that 54 percent of
South Koreans supported Seoul's plans to provide accommodation
and other expenses needed for the stay of the North Korean
delegation during the games, while 41 percent opposed it.
Conservative lawmakers questioned whether the potential
problems were worth the political gains.
"Many people worry that North Korea is taking advantage of
the Pyeongchang Olympics to publicize its political propaganda,"
parliament member Kim Ki-sun said on Monday. "How long did the
peace last after the two Koreas marched together in past games?"