South and North Korea agreed Wednesday to field a unified team for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and seek the merger of the two rival international taekwondo bodies.

A joint statement said the Olympic committees of the two Koreas agreed to support the fielding of a unified team in the Athens Olympiad, and promote inter-Korean sports exchanges for the sake of contributing to peace, stability, reconciliation and unification on the Korean Peninsula.

The statement was issued after a meeting between Kim Un-yong, the South Korean vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Chang Ung, North Korea's representative to the IOC.

In a preliminary step toward merging the taekwondo bodies of the two Koreas, Kim and Chang agreed to establish a coordination committee to settle differences in rules and technicalities.

To that end, the two officials will confer in Beijing in late October. Kim is planning to visit North Korea to hold a follow-up meeting.

Kim leads the Seoul-based World Taekwondo Federation, while Chang heads the Pyongyang-based International Taekwondo Federation.