North Korean athletes arrive in South Korea ahead of Winter Olympics

Female athletes representing North Korea in the 2018 Winter Olympics arrived in South Korea on Thursday, joining South Korea's competitors as they forge a "unified" women's hockey team.

The 12 North Korean hockey athletes arrived at South Korea's national training center in Jincheon after the International Olympic Committee allowed them to join their southern neighbor's 23-member team. The athletes from Kim Jong Un's rogue nation wore white and red parkas as they crossed the densely-fortified state border.

See images of the North Korean athletes as they arrive in South Korea:

The IOC agreed to allow a total of 22 North Korean athletes to participate in the Games. They will compete in figure skating, short track speed skating, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and ice hockey.

Some South Korean citizens were angered by the decision to allow North Korean athletes to participate with South Korea, with some protesters setting fire to a North Korean flag and burning a picture of Kim Jong Un.

Ahead of the Winter Games, which will commence on Feb. 9, North Korea issued a statement on Thursday calling for efforts toward unification directed at "all Koreans at home and abroad."

North Korea first competed in the Olympics in 1964, and have competed in every Summer Games since, except when they boycotted the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and 1988 Games in Seoul. The nation has sent athletes to five Winter Games in the past 30 years, picking up a bronze medal in 1992.