Olympics: North Korean figure skaters finish on a high in pairs

North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik finished with a flourish in the pairs figure skating program on Thursday, posting their best ever overall score of 193.63 points for 13th place.

The first North Koreans to qualify for the Games after they finished sixth at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, last September, Ryom and Kim earned huge cheers from the crowd during their graceful free skate and lapped up the thunderous applause they received during the kiss and cry at Gangneung Ice Arena.

"At the start of the competition we were very nervous. But as we heard the crowd cheering we were very happy and the hardship just melted away and I felt better," said Ryom.

Kim said, "When we heard the crowd cheering we were very excited. We would like to send our thanks to the South Koreans and our fellow Koreans for cheering us on. We were happy to perform here. It was very good for us."

Their scores in the short (69.40), free (124.23) and total were all personal bests. Their short and total scores surpassed their previous best marks (65.25 and 184.98) set at last month's Four Continents championships in Taipei.

The pair's previous best free skate (119.90) had come at the Nebelhorn Trophy.

"Our goal is to continue and try more and to break the records that we set today. We are satisfied with today's performance," said Kim.

"There are still a lot of things left for us to do. We feel somewhat disappointed because in our training we did a whole lot better than the results we got here."

"We will try our best to improve our score in our next performance. We want to break our record step by step and hope to get better and better."

At the Four Continents, Ryom and Kim won the bronze medal, becoming the first skaters from North Korea to win a medal at an ISU event.

Although they qualified for Pyeongchang, Ryom and Kim failed to confirm their participation and their berth by the deadline, and it was handed to Japan's Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara.

However, the North Koreans were given an additional berth by the International Olympic Committee last month.

North Korea, which did not have any athletes at the Sochi Games four years ago, has sent more than 20 athletes to Pyeongchang, including 12 ice hockey players in a combined North and South Korean women's team.

Last month the two Koreas held their first official talks in more than two years, where the North showed interest in sending a delegation of athletes and high-ranking government officials to the Winter Games.

The developments came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un struck a conciliatory note on relations with South Korea in his New Year's address amid tensions over Pyongyang's continued development of nuclear and ballistic weapons.

The idea of forming a joint women's ice hockey team had stirred controversy in South Korea and participating nations. In South Korea, it was felt a unified team would prevent deserving South Korean skaters from participating.

Other nations were concerned a combined roster as was approved would provide an unfair competitive advantage.