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July 31 (UPI) -- If North Korea's Kim Jong Un wants to attend the 2018 Asian Games, he need not worry, according to Indonesian envoys in Pyongyang this week. Puan Maharani, Jakarta's coordinating minister for human development and culture, extended an invitation to Kim on Monday, as Deputy National Police Chief Gen. Syafruddin, who accompanied Maharani to Pyongyang, provided safety assurances, Indonesian news service Tempo reported Tuesday.
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"It's my duty to provide assurance for all countries in the world, Asia, including North Korea, that the safety in Indonesia is stable. Don't worry or even doubt," Syafruddin said.
The Games' opening ceremony is Aug. 18, which leaves Kim, who has launched a series of diplomatic engagements in 2018, only a few weeks to decide whether to attend the event that will bring the teams of North and South Korea together.
North and South have agreed to create unified teams at the Games for women's basketball, dragon boating, and rowing, according to Yonhap.
The two teams will use dragon boats named after major rivers in their respective countries, according to the report.
On Tuesday athletes from the two sides met in Chungju, in central South Korea, for a "launching ceremony" for their boats.
The unified teams will mark the first time the two Koreas compete together in the Asian Games.
"Starting with these Asian Games, we'll continue to push for unified Korean teams at future events and contribute to better inter-Korean relations," said Kim Yong-bin, head of the South's Korea Canoe Federation.
