THE two Koreas have met for the third time in less than 10 days to continue talks on Olympics cooperation.

The Winter Games begin in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang on February 9 and discussions will be held with the International Olympics Committee (ICO) in the coming days to discuss North Korean participation.

A flurry of Olympics-related meetings has resulted in a tentative thaw in long-strained ties between the Koreas.

But the North’s reluctance to discuss its nuclear weapons program is raising scepticism over how long the reconciliatory mood will last.

The Koreas have been discussing fielding a joint women’s hockey team and having their athletes march under a “unification flag” depicting the Korean Peninsula, instead of their respective national flags, during the opening ceremony for the Games.

The ICO is to meet with the Pyeongchang organisiners plus sports and government officials from the two Koreas at its headquarters in Switzerland on Saturday to hold talks about the plans.

Other likely topics of discussion include what route the North Korean delegation would take to South Korea and how much financial support South Korea would provide the North.

North Korea’s announcement on January 1 that it would consider joining the Games came after a year of heightened animosity and fears of a military confrontation after the US criticised the North’s nuclear program.