April 11 (UPI) — A women’s ice hockey tournament that has become a symbol of thawing relations between North and South Korea ended with the North Korean team reportedly rejecting South Korean gifts.
The North Korean team returned home after participating in the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship tournaments held in Gangneung, South Korea, Yonhap reported Monday.
Teams from the two Koreas faced off on Thursday in a match in which the South Korean team won 3-0.
But on Sunday as the team from Pyongyang left their hotel in the city, they returned the gifts from South Korea, including more than 30 key chains.
The pine wood key chains were handmade by South Koreans, and the wood was sourced from a local forest, according to the report.
Symbols of winter sports, including ice hockey and speed skating, were etched into snow-filled scenery on the wooden surfaces.
More than 1,700 key chains were made before December’s “test events” for the 2018 Winter Olympics in nearby Pyeongchang.
Volunteers may have carved the key chains at various booths at the venue.
The North Korean team may have also returned plush toys that depicted the 2018 Winter Games mascots: Soohorang, a white tiger, and Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear.
But one source in Gangwon Province told Yonhap the team might have taken the merchandise with them.
Pyongyang’s team bid a tearful farewell to South Koreans on the evening of their departure, according to the report.
