Baby steps…

(GENEVA) North and South Korea have made progress on forming a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The rivals, who have agreed in principle to field one team for the games, have struggled to find a blueprint on how to combine their squads.

After meetings Tuesday mediated by IOC president Jacques Rogge, the two countries’ top Olympic officials said they were hopeful that all remaining issues could soon be hammered out.

“The meeting today was very positive, very constructive,” said Kim Jung-kil, head of South Korea’s Olympic committee. “There are still outstanding issues at hand, but we hope that we will still have further progress.”

Kim’s North Korean counterpart, Mun Jae Dok, expressed optimism, even if he also warned that “things remain to be discussed and have yet to be finalized.”