North Korea's participation at next month's Winter Olympics will form an integral part of an opening ceremony that will highlight the key message of peace, Games organisers say.
The 2018 Winter Olympics are being held in the mountain resort town of Pyeongchang, 80km from the heavily-fortified inter-Korean border, and kick off with the opening ceremony on February 9.
Song Seung-hwan, who is the executive creative director for the PyeongChang ceremonies, said on Tuesday that peace had been set as the main motif of the opening gala even before North Korea decided to join the Games.
"We have worked on all of our scenarios under the theme of peace," Song, a renowned actor and producer, told a news conference in PyeongChang.
"Although North Korea's participation was decided belatedly, we think this will serve as a good opportunity for us to convey our message more clearly."
North Korea's presence at the Games had been speculated over for months amid heightened tensions surrounding Pyongyang's contentious nuclear and ballistic missile program.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, the Koreas agreed to parade together at the opening ceremony and form a unified team to compete in women's ice hockey.
The opening ceremony is expected to intertwine Korean history and tradition with aspects of modern culture.
