The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been exchanging positive messages to reduce hostility since the start of the new year. The ice was first broken when Pyongyang said it wanted to send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Now both parties kicked off a senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue on Jan 9 to discuss how to cooperate on next month's Winter Games and how to improve overall ties.

The DPRK will send a high-ranking delegation as well as athletes and cheering squad to participate in the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics, local media reported.

Let's take a look at how sports diplomacy has shaped and developed DPRK-ROK ties.