Two athletes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) expected to contend for medals at next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics are the figure skating pair of Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik. They are currently competing at the Four Continents Championships in Taipei.

Ryom, 18, and Kim, 25, became the first DPRK athletes to qualify for the Olympics in the Republic of Korea (ROK). They reached the standard last September in Germany, after working with their personal coach, Canadian Bruno Marcotte, since last March. They won gold at last season's Asian Open in Manila, and claimed bronze at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games.

Along with their local coach Kim Hyon Son, Ryom and Kim appeared calm as they headed from their hotel to the arena ahead of yesterday's short program in Taipei. The delegation attracted a small crowd of spectators as they made their way to the venue.  

Their confidence would be borne out as went on to score a personal best 65.25 points and finished the session ranked fourth. They will try to surpass that result in the free skate as they push to grab a spot on the podium.

"I felt that it would be a good experience to work with the new team and when I talked to coaches or federations we never talk politics, we always talk about what I can do for them and when I look at this team I see two skaters with so much potential," Marcotte said. “So for me it was very exciting because I felt that there was a team with potential but like a raw diamond, like rough but one that could be so good eventually."