Ri Bun-hee, General Secretary of the DPR Korea Sports Association for the Disabled—who served as a symbol of inter-Korean harmony by teaming up with Hyun Jung-hwa at the first-ever unified inter-Korean world table tennis championships—has reportedly participated as part of the delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games in Japan.

According to Kyodo News today (October 19), Ri visited Japan to participate in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games and was spotted cheering for North Korean athletes on October 16 and 17, prior to the opening ceremony.

Ri Bun-hee partnered with Hyun Jung-hwa (currently head coach of the Korea Racing Authority women's table tennis team) in the doubles event at the 1991 Chiba World Table Tennis Championships, where the two Koreas formed their first unified team since division.

In the women's team final, the unified team featuring Hyun Jung-hwa and Hong Cha-ok from the South, along with Ri Bun-hee and Yu Sun-bok from the North, caused an upset by defeating China, which had been aiming for its ninth consecutive victory in the women's team event.

Ri is known to have started participating in North Korea's sports administration for people with disabilities after having a son with cerebral palsy.

She was expected to lead the North Korean delegation to the South during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, but ultimately was not included in the delegation.

Head Coach Hyun has missed a reunion with Ri since the 1993 Gothenburg World Championships, where Hyun won the women's singles gold medal.

At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, Ri was seen sitting in the stands wearing official delegation uniforms bearing "DPR KOREA," analyzing matches of athletes from various countries and cheering for her own athletes.

Although she did not respond to local media interviews, she smiled when Zainichi Koreans in the stands called out her name, Kyodo News reported.

The news agency commented that while North Korea's welfare for people with disabilities has previously faced criticism for lagging behind, the country has recently been pushing to revise related laws.

(Photo: Yonhap News)