North Korean athletes, cheerleaders return home as Olympics end

North Korean cheerleaders wave their hands as they prepare to return home at via the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office at Dorasan Station, Monday. / Yonhap

North Korean athletes and cheerleaders returned home Monday after the North sent a record size delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which ended the previous day.

Nearly 300 North Koreans, including 22 athletes and 229 cheerleaders, crossed the inter-Korean border to return home at 12:38 p.m. after leaving a checkpoint in Paju, just south of the border, according to pool reports.

North Korea sent a 492-strong Olympics delegation, which included athletes, musicians, cheerleaders and taekwondo demonstrators, to the Feb. 9-25 Winter Games in South Korea. A North Korean art troupe and a taekwondo demonstration team have already returned home.

The two Koreas have engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare olive branch to Seoul in his New Year's Day message.

North Korean cheerleaders wave their hands as they prepare to return home at via the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office at Dorasan Station, Monday. / Yonhap

IOC chief lauds PyeongChang Games as great success 2018-02-26 15:17
South and North Korea saw their athletes jointly march under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and fielded a joint women's ice hockey team.

Hundreds of North Korean female cheerleaders made their first appearance in 13 years at an international sports event hosted by the South.

The North plans to send a 150-member delegation to the Paralympics scheduled for March 9-18. The two Koreas plan to hold working-level talks Tuesday to discuss details of the North's participation in the upcoming Games. (Yonhap)

Chartered buses carrying North Korean athletes and cheering squad are returning to North Korea, Monday. / Yonhap