
North and South Korea marched into the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics as one nation under a unified flag on Friday as the Pyeongchang Games officially kicked off.

Athletes from both countries walked into the main stadium amid a ceremony featuring huge puppets, 1,200 drones and thousands of dancers that was themed around the search for peace.

As they came into the stadium they were greeted by a song called Arirang, a folk tune that was later used as the resistance anthem when Korea was under Japanese imperial rule

Inside the area 30,000 people, including a 200-strong North Korean cheerleading squad, watched in -3C temperatures as they were encouraged to bang drums given to them in an extreme weather kit to keep warm.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, who had earlier shaken hands in an historic meeting, clapped and waved in unison as the team entered.

Athletes from both North and South Korea marched out together at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongyang Winter Olympics under a flag depicting a unified Korean peninsula

In total North Korea has send 22 athletes to the games who will be competing across five disciplines, including figure skating, skiing and speed skating

North Korean ice hockey player Hwang Chung Gum (left) and South Korean bobsledder Won Yun-jong (right) carried out the flag together in a show of unity

Moon Jae-in, South Korea's President, has been touting the Games as the 'peace' Olympics, and the opening ceremony was entirely themed around unity and shared history

The teams marched into the arena to a tune called Arirang, a folk song that was later used as the resistance anthem when Korea was under Japanese imperial rule

North and South Korean athletes pose for a selfie before walking out under the unity flag

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook (front left) applaud the joint Korean team as North Korea's ceremonial leader Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un (back right) wave to their athletes

North Korean Jong Su Hyon and South Korean Park Jong-ah, both members of the unified Korean hockey team which is playing together at the games, carry the Olympic torch to light the cauldron

Kim was handed the torch by a pair of players from the unified Korean ice hockey team before lighting the cauldron

The ceremony was capped by the lighting of the Olympic torch by Kim Yu-na, the 2010 Olympic champion in figure skating, using a mechanism that extended up towards the cauldron before it ignited

With the lighting of the flame the Winter Olympics were declared open, prompting a huge fireworks display

The Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang kicked off with a bang on Friday as both North and South joined together to put on a display of peace and unity

Lights embedded in the back of spectators' seats are used to illuminate the stadium as a final flurry of fireworks explodes overhead and the Winter Olympics officially open

An explosion of fireworks fills the main stadium after the lighting of the torch as the Pyeongchang Olympics officially opened

The ceremony started with five children setting off on a quest to find peace, which has become the theme of the games

The children were accompanied on their quest by the White Tiger, one of the four guardian gods and protectors of peace

Alongside the huge puppets were spectacular light displays and thousands of dancers wearing traditional Korean costumes

Projections were also cast on to the ice to tell the second section of the story, entitled Land of Peace, which sees unity and order brought to a chaotic universe

Bizarre puppets and elaborately dressed dancers join the children on stage as they journey on their quest

Dancers and puppeteers take part in the opening ceremony, which is taking place in temperatures of -3C

Hundreds of drummers fill the center of the Olympic stadium as the first section of the ceremony comes to a close

The drummers were part of the mesmerizing display that finished as the parade of nations began

The quest saw the children swept along the River of Time on a raft, representing the turmoil of Korean history

Dozens of huge and bizarre puppets, representing mythological figures from Korea, featured in the display

The children celebrate completing their quest as the first part of the opening ceremony finishes

Intel set a Guinness World Record for the most drones flown simultaneously – more than 1,200 – during the first drone light show in the history of Olympic Games

Kim Jong-un's sister sits right behind US Vice President Mike Pence at the Winter Olympics North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un 's sister was seen enjoying the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea sitting right behind U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. Kim Yo Jong had taken her seat just feet away from the Vice President, behind his wife Karen Pence, after shaking the hand of South Korean President Moon Jae-in as they entered the stadium for the event. Kim Jong Un's younger sister is part of a high-level diplomatic delegation led by the North's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, and she is the first member of Pyongyang's ruling dynasty to set foot in the country since the Korean War. Diplomatic progress? Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo-Jong is seen sitting just feet away from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen during the opening ceremony Kim Yong Nam was earlier seen meeting with President Moon, the two leaders shaking hands ahead of the opening ceremony. President Moon has pushed the Games as a 'peace Olympics' that will open a door for dialogue to alleviate tensions on the peninsula and seek to persuade Pyongyang to give up its atomic ambitions. There is reportedly a 'good chance' that Ms Kim will invite President Moon to Pyongyang during a lunch on Saturday, CNN reports. Peace Olympics': Kim Yo-Jong was seated next to North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, behind President Moon and his wife, and Mr and Mrs Pence Making friends: Ms Kim is seen shaking hands with President Moon Jae-in ahead of the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games Sources told CNN that the potential visit would be 'sometime this year', and if it goes ahead it would be the first visit from a South Korean president in 11 years. The last member of the Kim family to set foot in Seoul was Yo Jong's grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North's founder, after his forces invaded in 1950 and the capital fell. Three years later the conflict ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided by the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, and the two sides technically in a state of war. Advertisement

Sitting alongside them in the world leader's box was Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and US Vice President Mike Pence, who were sitting just one row apart.

Four Korean singers then took to the stage to perform 'Imagine' by John Lennon, who were then backed by a film showing street musicians around the world singing the song.

The show, directed by Korean actor Song Seung-whan, uses the South Korean flag – the Taegeukgi - and the traditional janggo drum to represent the harmony of yin and yang.

South Korea's Royal Marching Band and the Traditional Guard of Honour – both in national dress, wowed the crowd.

South Korea's leader proclaimed the Pyeongchang Olympic Games as a 'path to peace' as he opened the Games in a spectacular ceremony.

President President Moon Jae-in told a packed stadium – and an international audience of millions in 200 countries – that sport had the power to bring 'reconciliation between East and West'.

He said: 'I would like to welcome everyone who has joined us here in at Pyeongchang for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

'The Seoul 1988 Summer Games paved the way for reconciliation between East and West by breaking down the wall of the Cold War.

'Thirty years after hosting the Summer Games, the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games has commenced with a hope for peace from everyone around the world.

'It was with an ardent desire that the people of Korea aspired to host the Olympic Winter Games, as the dream and future of Korea, the only divided nation in the world, mirrors the Olympic spirit in its pursuit of peace.

Eight former South Korean Olympians entered the stadium with their flag which was raised before the national anthem

Team GB were led into the stadium by Lizzy Yarnold who won gold at the women's skeleton during the 2014 Olympics

Erin Hamlin, four-time Olympic luger, led out the United States during the parade of nations having won the honor from speed skater Shani Davis with a controversial coin toss

Snowboarder Scotty James, who became Australia's youngest Olympian in 50 years when he secured at the 2010 games aged just 15, led out his national team

Russian Olympians entered the stadium under the Olympic flag. The country is officially banned from competing after a state-sponsored doping ring was uncovered but individual athletes who can prove they are clean are permitted to attend

Athletes from China wave flags during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang

The Bermudan Olympic team drew gasps from the audience – and praise from other athletes – as they marched into the stadium in shorts

Tonga's Pita Taufatofau, who became an internet celebrity after he led his country out at the Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016 while shirtless and oiled up, was just as oiled and shirtless for this display

Who is Kim Yo-Jong? Kim Jong-Un's younger sister hailed as the 'political princess' of North Korea Kim Jong Un's increasingly influential sister has become one of his closest confidantes in a country where power has always been a family affair. Kim Yo Jong made history Friday as the first member of the North's ruling dynasty to set foot in the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Believed to be aged 30, Yo Jong is one of three children born to Kim Jong Il and his third known partner, former dancer Ko Yong Hui, making her a full sister of Kim Jong-Un. Right-wing woman: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, seen with his sister Kim Yo Jong who has become an increasingly prominent figure in the country's leadership Like her brother, she received her primary educated in Berne, Switzerland in the 90s, and later returned to North Korea to study computer science in Pyongyang. The siblings' time together in Europe, during which they attended school under fake identities and were kept in semi-isolation under the protection of guards and party officials, has made them particularly close. Her existence was barely known to the wider world until their father's funeral, when she was seen standing right behind her brother on state television, looking tearful and ashen-faced. But she was rapidly ushered up the ladder after Kim Jong-Un took the helm and she is now one of the most powerful women in the isolated regime. A state of Kims: The family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim dynasty 'She is one of a very few people who can talk freely about anything with the leader Kim,' said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul. 'She must have far bigger capacity than any other North Korean official when it comes to decision-making and policy coordination with the leader,' he said, adding she is fluent in English and French. Yo Jong is currently an alternate member of the political bureau of the party's powerful central committee, and deeply involved in the party's propaganda operations - an important role. She was elected as a member of the Supreme People's Assembly - the country's rubberstamp parliament - at the age of just 27. In December 2014, Yo Jong reportedly married a man named Choe Song, son of Workers' Party's party secretary Choe Ryong Hae. The couple is said to have one child, born in 2015. Advertisement

'The people of Korea rewrote the history of democracy last year with peaceful and dignified candlelight protests. We have also been very committed in our preparation of the Olympic Games as a festival and celebration of peace.

'I believe the Olympic Flame that opens the Winter Games will illuminate the path of peace for everyone who has travelled to be with us in the beautiful winter wonderland of Korea.

'This is the start. With passion that will bring supporters and athletes together regardless of outcome, and with the Olympic spirit that seeks peace and a love for humanity, the Winter Games held on the snow and ice here in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, will be for everyone to enjoy and celebrate.'

TeamGB flag bearer Lizzy Yarnold has told how she shed tears of pride as she carried the Union Jack into the arena.

She said: 'Before I walked out, I was able to see the stadium and there were tears. It means so much to represent the whole team. I loved it.'

The rival regimes have put aside decades of enmity to celebrate winter sports in the spirit of 'peace and friendship'.

The delegation's trip is the diplomatic high point of a Games-driven rapprochement between the two Koreas, with the dovish Moon pushing a 'peace Olympics' that will open a door for dialogue to alleviate tensions and seek to persuade Pyongyang to give up its atomic ambitions.

The two Korean states remain in a state of war despite the 1953 ceasefire that split the nation into the communist north and the capitalist south.

North Korea has sent a total of 22 athletes over the border to compete in five sports, including figure skating, skiing and speed skating.

The spectacular display featured thousands of fireworks and a dazzling light display, along with mesmerizing and frequently bizarre performances by dancers and five child actors depicting a quest for peace

The ceremony closed as four Korean pop stars sang a rendition of John Lenon's Imagine amid a sea of swaying lights

Performers created the symbol of a peace dove around the five singers as the opening ceremony entered its final stages

Each seat was equipped with a special light square that illuminated different colours and became part of the show

The South Korean flag was used in the display alongside the janggo drum to represent the harmony of yin and yang

Performers with light-up boxes featured as part of the ceremony in an incredible visual display

The boxes were used to create a halo around the edge of the stage as columns of lights were lowered from a central rig

As the box lights were extinguished the columns were illuminated, creating a spectacular effect

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, speaks next to Lee Hee-beom (top), President & CEO of PyeongChang Organizing Committee

A joint taekwondo team served as the warm-up act before the main opening ceremony, breaking wooden planks with kicks

Taekwondo is an ancient Korean martial art and was used to reinforce the spirit of togetherness that has become the emphasis of the games

The theme of the warm-up act was 'unity in motion' as the martial arts experts kicked and somersaulted their way through the bitterly cold winter air in Pyeongchang

The dramatic display was watched by US Vice President Mike Pence and North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, who sat as far apart as possible in the world leader's box

A taekwondo expert breaks a thick block of wood with his bare feet despite the freezing cold temperatures in Pyeongchang

North Korea's 229-strong cheerleading squad, which arrived in the South earlier this week dressed in red outfits trimmed in fur, were among the 30,000 people packed into the stadium to watch

Each member of the squad was given a North Korean flag to wave, along with a Korean unity flag, which is being used to represent a united Korean peninsula at these Olympics

The squad were each given a bright red coat to wear along with matching red and white hats

Members of North Korea's cheerleading squad swapped their unity flags in favor of North Korean ones as the start of the opening ceremony neared closer

In total North Korea has sent 22 athletes to the games across five sports, and a squad of 229 women to cheer them on

North Korea is using the games to stage a charm offensive following a record-breaking number of missile tests last year. Pictured are members of the North Korean cheerleading squad take their seats ahead of the opening ceremony

A member of North Korea's cheerleader squad waves at the camera from inside the Pyeongchang Olympic stadium

Who is North Korea's head of state? 90-year-old Kim Yong Nam is unquestionably loyal to the Supreme Leader Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state and leader of the North's high-level government delegation North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam is a career diplomat whose unquestioning loyalty has ensured his survival for decades in the regime's top ranks. Kim, who turns 90 this month, has served the North's ruling Kim family for three generations, despite periodic purges of the Workers' Party. Leader Kim Jong Un had his own uncle executed for treason two years after coming to power, and his half-brother Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in a Malaysian airport last year, but Kim Yong Nam - who is not a close blood relative of the ruling family - has always survived. Analysts ascribe his longevity to his suave manner and reliable devotion. 'He has never been considered a threat to the regime,' said professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies. 'He is an amiable technocrat who faithfully follows the leader's directions,' he told AFP. South Korean analysts have nicknamed him 'Tape Recorder', he added, 'as he always parrots what has been said by the supreme leader'. Kim Yong Nam arrived in the South Friday for a three-day visit, at the head of the North's diplomatic delegation to the Winter Olympics, accompanied by leader Kim's sister, two other senior other officials, and 18 support staff. As president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, the North's rubberstamp parliament, he is the country's ceremonial head of state and technically the highest-level Northern official ever to visit the South. But he is largely considered a figurehead whose public diplomatic role, representing the country at international events, leaves it unclear how much political power he really has. He issues letters of credit for North Korean diplomats and receives foreign representatives, but Kim Jong Un holds the real authority as the Supreme Leader and head of the Workers' Party. Kim Yong Nam's diplomatic roles were especially convenient for the current leader's late father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, who was known for a propensity to avoid contact with foreign guests, according to analysts. 'He is not a politician but a typical technocrat who has spent decades handling international relations,' said Yang. But he pointed out that whenever the North's state media reel off the names of officials who attend ceremonies, 'Kim Yong Nam's name always comes next after that of Kim Jong Un.' 'This means he is the number-two in the official party ranks,' he added. According to the South's Unification Ministry, Kim Yong Nam was born in February 1928 in Pyongyang. He studied at the North's prestigious Kim Il Sung University before graduating from Moscow University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in international relations. He was recruited into the international affairs department of the party's Central Committee, where he started moving up the career ladder, becoming its head in 1972. He has spent his entire career in Pyongyang, and in 1983 the North's founder Kim Il Sung named him as foreign minister. Under Kim's son and successor Kim Jong Il he was elevated to his current position in 1998. As the head of state, he took part in both North-South summits in Pyongyang, meeting South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in 2000 and his successor Roh Moo-hyun seven years later. He will meet his third South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, at a lunch on Saturday. Pyeongchang will also be his third Olympics - he led the North's delegations to Beijing in 2008 and Sochi four years ago. Advertisement

Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's head of state and the highest-ranking official ever to visit the South, shook hands with South Korean president Moon Jae-in on Friday

The pair met alongside first lady Kim Jung-sook ahead of the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

Kim and Moon also clinked glasses at a world leader's reception where the North Korean delegate was sat at the top table

Not everyone shared the spirit of unity, however, and protesters angry at Moon's seeming appeasement of the North clashed with security outside the main stadium

Protesters ripped images of Kim Jong Un and shouted anti-North Korean slogans ahead of the opening ceremony

North and South Korea are still officially at war, and while leaders have been keen to paint the games as a chance for unity, protesters gathered in Pyeongchang felt otherwise

However, the USA remain skeptical of this new-found détente and accuse the rogue state of trying to hijack the Olympic Games for his own propaganda.

Vice President Mike Pence has sought to concentrate minds by inviting the father of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died a week after he was released from a North Korean jail in a coma last year, to the opening ceremony as his guest.

Princess Anne, who represented TeamGB in equestrian events at the 1976 Olympic Games at Montreal, and the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres are also guests of honour.

Russia remains under scrutiny with the national squad banned from the Olympics following state-sponsored doping. Some 169 individual Russian athletes have been allowed to compete under the Olympic flag but the Court of Arbitration (Cas) today refused bids from a further 47 to take part.

Despite a thawing in international relations the event is set to be the coldest Olympic Games on record with day-break temperatures of below minus 20 Celsius at the mountain locations – and a bitter wind sending the chill-factor through the frozen floor.

Organisers have laid on special extreme weather kits – including heat pads, a warm seat cushion, bobble hat and raincoat – but the Korean winter will still seep through.

The crowd fear they will shiver amid flurries of snow swirling around the open-air stadium, as the athletes from the 102 nations, who will compete for medals in 15 different sports, fill the arena.

However, Koreans flocked in their thousands to pack the purpose-built 35,000 capacity arena, which will be knocked down after the competition.

Squadrons of police and uniformed security agents surrounded the venue – with even a patrol on the frozen river that separates the stadium from the town.

Over the next 16 days the world's fittest, fastest and fiercest competitors will battle it out on the snow and ice for the coveted prize of reaching the Olympic podium.

TeamGB will be out into the arena by flag bearer Lizzy Yarnold who comes to Pyeongchang to defend her Olympic gold she won in the skeleton at Sochi – Britain's first in the snow.

But with their poster-girl snowboarding sensation Katie Ormerod forced to pull out after breaking her heel and her wrist in practice, TeamGB's five-medal target now appears a little ambitious. The 20-year-old had a realistic chance of winning two medals.

However fielding a 58-strong squad, the biggest ever for a Winter Games, the British athletes are going for gold.

Medal hopefuls include: short-track speed skater Elise Christie; slalom skier Dave Ryding; free-style skiers James Woods and Isabel Atkin; cross-country skier Andrew Musgrave: snowboarder Billy Morgan; and TeamGB's four-man men's and women's curling teams.

North and South Korea are still officially at war, but have agreed to put aside their differences to celebrate sport in the spirit of 'peace and friendship' (pictured, the unified Korea flag)

Thousands have gathered in Pyeongchang to watch the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, which will take place later

The unified women's ice hockey team has already competed in its first game, slumping to a 3-1 defeat against Sweden, but celebrating as one after they scored

A man wearing the unified Korea flag cheers as their team play a preliminary match against Sweden at the Pyeongchang Olympics