The 12 players from North Korea, accompanied by two members of support staff, were greeted by the South Korean squad at the Jincheon National Training Center today.

South Korea coach Sarah Murray, who had previously criticised the pan-Korean team for Pyeongchang 2018, was among those to welcome the North Koreans at the centre, located 90 kilometres from Seoul.

A six-minute welcome ceremony was held in Jincheon to mark the arrival of the North Korean ice hockey delegation.

It came after North Korea made a rare announcement addressed to "all Koreans at home and abroad" that the two nations should attempt to make a "breakthrough" for unification.

The women's ice hockey squad will include 12 players and one official from North Korea alongside 23 South Korean players.

They will compete as Korea under the unification flag and the anthem "Arirang", a traditional Korean song often considered an unofficial national anthem which is estimated to be 2,000 years old.

Only 22 players will be able to participate in each game. 

At least three North Korean players will feature in each match but Murray will be in charge of the team.

The 12 players are comprised of nine forwards, two defenders and a goaltender.

Murray again insisted she would not be pressured into selecting athletes from North Korea, claiming she will "pick the best available players" in order to win as many matches as possible at the Games.

The pan-Korean team will get their first run out in a warm-up match against Sweden on February 4, where players from the North are likely to feature, before they open their Pyeongchang 2018 campaign against Switzerland on February 10.

The South Korean and North Korean squads are due to hold separate training sessions before the first joint practice takes place next week.

The arrival of the North Korean delegation, who crossed the heavily-armed border on foot, came as the Liberty Korea Party continued to criticise the involvement of the country at the Winter Olympics.

The main opposition party have accused the South Korean Government of putting too much emphasis on North Korean participation, which they claim has taken the spotlight away from the work of the Organising Committte.

They have derided the event as the "Pyongyang Olympics" - a reference to the capital of North Korea - and have blamed the Government for politicising the Games.

"We cannot help but ask once again whether this is the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics or the Pyongyang Olympics of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Liberty Korea Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae said.

Protesters in Seoul have also demonstrated against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un.

It was confirmed that a total of 22 North Koreans are due to compete at Pyeongchang 2018 by the International Olympic Committee following a four-party meeting in Lausanne on Saturday (January 20).

They are set to participate in three sports and five disciplines, including the pan-Korean women's ice hockey team.

A joint bobsleigh team was also mooted, while an official with the Korean Ski Association (KSA) has claimed it remains a possibility that the two countries could compete together in cross-country skiing.

An unnamed KSA official told South Korean news agency Yonhap that the idea could still come to fruition.

It remains unlikely, however, as the IOC have already reached an agreement on North Korean participation at the Games.

"We could review a plan to form a joint team with athletes from the South and North for the team sprint competition in cross-country skiing," the official said.

The two countries will also march as "Korea" at the Opening Ceremony on February 9 under the unification flag, where there will be a male and a female flagbearer representing both nations.