The coach of North and South Korea’s joint Olympic hockey team had to make a dictionary so players could understand each other

Korea Pool via AP

• Female North and South Korean hockey players will compete on the same team at the upcoming Olympic Games.
• It’s the first time the rivals have ever joined up to compete together in the Olympics.
• But the players and coaches are facing a new challenge: The two Koreas speak increasingly different languages, as North Korea has eliminated all words with English origins.
• The Canadian coach of the joint team has made a three-page dictionary that translates key hockey terms from English into South Korean and then into North Korean for better communication among the players and herself.  

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea face a widening linguistic divide after 70 years of division, and that is a challenge for the rivals’ first-ever joint Olympic team as it prepares for the Pyeongchang Winter Games.

The Canadian coach of the joint women’s hockey team said Monday her squad has made a three-page dictionary that translates key hockey terms from English into South Korean and then into North Korean for better communication among the players and herself.

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