Seoul: South and North Korean athletes will march together at the opening ceremony for the Asian Games in Qatar next month, sports officials said Monday.
 
 The march will be the first sign of reconciliation since the communist North staged a nuclear weapons test on October 9, raising tensions on the divided peninsula.


 "Our side has agreed to accept the North's proposal that athletes from both sides march together for the opening ceremony," said Korea Sports Council spokesman Kim Tae-Hyong. The games open on Saturday.

 The North's offer was made on November 11. It also proposed talks on fielding a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in its first official call for dialogue since the test.

 "Both sides will hold talks soon in Qatar to work out details of the joint entry for the opening ceremony and also their joint march for the closing ceremony," Kim said.

 They would also discuss a possible unified team for Beijing, he said.

 The two countries, still technically at war, have sent unified delegations to seven international sporting events since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but have never fielded a unified team for any athletic event.

 International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge in September expressed support for a unified team for the 2008 Games. But there have been no official inter-Korean talks since the nuclear test.

 The North has been hit by international sanctions for its weapons programmes.