North Korea and South Korea are still officially at war.
The country was divided in 1945 but in 1950 war broke out between the two nations. The fighting ended three years later – but only under a ceasefire, and 63 years on the two countries have still not officially declared peace.
Their joint border remains one of the most militarised zones in the entire world and the two nations have one of the most tense diplomatic relationships of any two countries on earth.
But that didn’t stop two Olympics athletes from either side of the 38th parallel putting aside these differences at the Rio games with a fantastic gesture.
South Korea’s Eun Ju Lee and Hong Un-jong of North Korea are going for gold in Brazil this year, and before they took part in the qualification stages for the artistic women’s gymnastics they stopped for a chat and got together for a wonderful selfie.
North Korea's Hong Un-jong and South Korea's Lee Eun-ju. I love the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/10vvR23AQj
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) August 7, 2016
We are still in the early stages of both gymnast’s event but both are still vying for a decent placing before going into the medal mix.
Great to see the 17-year-old Lee and Un-jong, who is 10 years her senior, putting their national rivalries to one side for one excellent moment.
Good luck to them both.
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