North and South Korea to march under same flag at Winter Olympics in diplomatic breakthrough

North and South Korea have agreed to form a joint women's hockey team and march under the same flag for a parade at next month's Winter Olympics, in a major step towards easing tensions on the peninsula. 

Officials from both sides hope the games, which will be held just 50 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will help ease tensions between the north's isolated dictator and the south's US-allied president. 

A North Korean delegation will visit the South next week to review the facilities at the Games venue, Yonhap reported.

South Korea also agreed to send its athletes to the North's Masikryong ski resort for training ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics that run through February 5 to 25.

North Korea has agreed to send a 550-member delegation, including 230 cheerleaders and a 30-strong taekwondo delegation.

The Olympic delegation, athletes, cheering squad, taekwondo delegation and reporters will travel by land through Kaesong, which lies on the main road from Pyongyang to Seoul. On Monday, the North agreed to send a 140-member art troupe.

Nuclear-armed Pyongyang agreed last week to send athletes, high-level officials, performers and others to the Pyeongchang Games, taking place just 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the peninsula.

Seoul has long sought to proclaim the event a "peace Olympics" in the face of tensions over the North's weapons programmes - which have seen it subjected to multiple UN Security Council sanctions - and the discussions represent a marked improvement.

Three officials from each side took part and the results will be discussed by both Koreas with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday.

The IOC must approve extra Olympic slots for the North's athletes after they failed to qualify or missed deadlines to register.