Pair skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for the Games, but the North Korean National Olympic Committee failed to enter them by the 30 October 2017 deadline.

[12] Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for the Games on 29 September 2017 at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany.

[14] The qualification was seen as a positive development, since it could alleviate fears of the escalation of the 2017–18 North Korea crisis that might have otherwise jeopardized the Games.

[6] The International Skating Union confirmed Ryom and Kim's qualification, but the North Korean National Olympic Committee still needed to approve their participation.

[21] In preparation for the North–South talks, the two countries restored the Seoul–Pyongyang hotline, which had been inactive for almost two years,[22] and exchanged related documents via fax.

[23] After the discussions on 9 January 2018, North Korea announced that they would send athletes to compete along with a delegation to attend the Winter Olympics.

[2] These moves were met with public opposition in South Korea, including protests and online petitions; critics argued that the government was attempting to use the Olympics to spread pro-North Korean sentiment, and that the idea of a unified hockey team was ill-conceived.

[24] A rap video entitled "The Regret for Pyeongchang" (평창유감), echoing this criticism and labeling the event the "Pyongyang Olympics", went viral in the country.

[26][27] The athletes from North and South Korea marched under the Korean unification flag in the opening ceremony.

[30] The delegation handed over an invitation to the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, to visit North Korea.

This was the first time since the Korean War that a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had visited South Korea.