美国有线新闻 CNN 平昌冬奥参赛规模创历届之最 朝韩女子冰球联队首秀（在线收听）

In Pyeongchang, South Korea, organizers say almost 3,000 athletes representing 92 countries will be competing. That would be the most ever.

And while North Korea has sent a delegation of athletes, musicians and media to South Korea, and there are signs of improved relations between the two rivals. There are also signs of continued tensions between them. For one thing, the night before the games, North Korea is holding a parade to show off its missiles and rockets, an effort to show the world its military strength.

For another, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is attending the games. The U.S. is an ally of South Korea, and according to "The Washington Post", he's bringing a man named Fred Warmbier with him. He's the father of Otto Warmbier, an American student who was jailed in North Korea and who died soon after he was released last year from a North Korean prison.

Warmbier's parents have accused North Korea of torturing him. The communist country says Warmbier contracted botulism, a bacterial disease, while in prison. The presence of his father at the Olympics will probably anger North Korea. So, it's likely these games will make political headlines, as well as athletic ones.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dancing for joy outside a women's ice hockey game, just days before the Winter Olympics. Some supporters delighted about the joint team from Korea playing what's supposed to be a friendly match against Sweden. But others are not feeling so friendly.

Scuffles are up between police and a small crowd of anti-North Korean demonstrators. They call North Korea's leader a dog, and they ridiculed the Winter Games, calling them the Pyongyang, not Pyeongchang Olympics.

A flurry of diplomacy last month resulted in a last minute decision to create the first ever joint North and South Korean women's Olympic ice hockey team. Playing under a unification flag, they stand for a Korean folk song instead of their country's national anthem. Twenty-three South Korean players skate alongside 12 North Korean players under the leadership of South Korea's Canadian coach.

The North and South Korean players only had a few days to train together and in the end, Sweden soundly defeated them.

Sweden ranked fifth in the world easily beat the Koreans 3-1. After the game, a North Korean coach and player briefly sat alongside South Korean counterparts to make a short statement about unity. But then in surreal twist, the North Korean walked off stage to avoid answering questions from journalists. The team that's supposed to be a symbol of unity isn't even allowed to live together.

SARAH MURRAY, COACH, UNIFIED KOREAN WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY TEAM: North Korea is not going to be staying with us in the same building, in the Olympic Village. They have their own building. So, all the North Korean athletes will be together.

In an ideal world, yes, we would be in the same building and we would stay together because we need to do team meetings. We need to be together.

We're one team. So — but unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. So, we're just going to deal with it.