Cyclists reach Warsaw in Korean unification ride

The cyclists in Warsaw on Thursday evening. Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara

Participants in the One Korea – New Eurasia marathon set out from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on 13 August, 53 years to the day since construction began on the Berlin Wall.

The group of 15 cyclists is being led by noted mountaineer Kim Chang-Ho (pictured below), the first Korean to conquer all 14 of the world's so-called '8 thousanders' (peaks over 8000 m), without supplementary oxygen.

Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara

After leaving Poland, the cyclists route will take them through Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China, ending in Seoul, capital of South Korea.

The marathon was organised by South Korea's oldest paper, The Chosun Ilbo.

Although 15 cyclists set out from Berlin, only 7 are attempting to cover the entire 15,000 km.

The participants will be in Warsaw for two days, and besides seeing the city's sites, they are also being hosted at a dinner at the South Korean embassy.

In October 2013, President Bronislaw Komorowski said in Seoul that Poland's Solidarity movement could act as an inspiration towards an eventual reunification of Korea.

Komorowski stressed that the Polish revolution that culminated in 1989 occurred “without the shedding of a single drop of blood.” (nh)

Source: PAP