‘We belong to one nation and we have the same blood. This is my answer to the issue of forming a unified team for the Beijing Olympics,’ Jang said, in reference to negotiations by both Koreas to pick a joint team for the 2008 event.

‘Though not involved in the work of the national Olympic committees, I understand things seem to go well,’ he added in an interview with local SBS television.

Despite his upbeat comments, at the latest negotiations in February the two countries failed to agree on how to select the squad. Seoul wants selection on athletes’ merits, while Pyongyang seeks equal representation.

The talks were the fourth round since the two sides agreed in principle to form a joint Olympic team in early 2004.

Jang, who heads the International Taekwondo Federation, also called for progress in unifying the North Korean body and its South Korean counterpart, the World Taekwondo Federation.

‘Our nation has been divided. Taekwondo should not be so,’ he said.

The two federations agreed in Qatar last December to form a coordinating body to discuss a merger. Its first meeting was held in Beijing on March 31.

The two Koreas, which have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict, seek rapprochement through sports exchanges.

Despite tensions after North Korea’s nuclear test in October, they marched together at the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Qatar in December.

South and North Korea have fielded a unified team for a world soccer championship and world table tennis championship, both in the early 1990s, but never for such a major event as the Olympics or Asian Games.