North Korea is sending a 230-person cheering squad to the Winter Olympics

North Korea's famed cheerleading squad will be attending the Winter Olympics.
(Image credit: YouTube/The Telegraph)

A significant chunk of North Korea's 550-person delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics will be members of the nation's "cheering squad," The Associated Press reported Wednesday. Some 230 North Koreans are reportedly traveling to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the express purpose of root-root-rooting for the home team, a move Japan has dismissed as being nothing more than a "charm offensive," Reuters writes.

North and South Korea agreed earlier this month for the North to send a symbolic delegation to the Olympics, including the cheer team and a 140-member art troupe. On Wednesday, South Korea confirmed that the two technically warring nations will march together during the opening ceremony under a unified Korean Peninsula flag. South Korea is additionally appealing to the Olympic committee to allow for its women's hockey team roster to be expanded so North Korean players can join, a move that could potentially lead to the Koreas' first unified competitive Olympic team.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.