North Korea and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single unified Korea flag at the Winter Olympics, according to South Korean officials.

Seoul's Unification Ministry says the Koreas reached the agreement during talks Wednesday at the border village of Panmunjom.

It says athletes from the two Koreas will march together under a "unification flag" depicting their peninsula during the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang.

The measures require approval by the International Olympic Committee, which will be consulted over the weekend.

Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Show all 9 1 /9 Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Lizzy Yarnold Lizzy Yarnold won Team GB’s first gold medal of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games after dominating the women's skeleton from start to finish. She hs recently take some time away from the sport before returning with the aim of defending her title at PyeongChang 2018. Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Jenny Jones Jenny Jones set Britain alight with slopestyle fever when she produced a spectacular display at Sochi 2014 to take Olympic bronze. having spent a winter in Tignes as a chalet maid, she took up snowboarding, quickly winning everything she entered, included three Winter X Games golds between 2009 and 2010. Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Jamie Nicholls Jamie Nicholls became the first British male snowboarder to win a World Cup event in 2016. The Bradford-born athlete took up the sport aged seven at Halifax Ski and Snowboard centre, but by the age of 13 he was already considered one of the best UK snowboarders. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Nicholls finished sixth overall. Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch James Woods James Woods won five consecutive British National Championships in slopestyle between 2007 and 2011. Woods suffered a hip injury in training for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, but finished a remarkable fifth in the slopestyle. After winning the Big Air competition to take a first ever Winter X Games gold medal in 2017, the Brit went on to take Winter X Games Europe bronze in slopestyle before repeating the feat at the World Championships a week later. AFP/Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Elise Christie Elise Christie was born in Livingston and moved to Nottingham when she was 15 in order to pursue her sporting dream. After representing Great Britain at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Christie enjoyed the most successful season ever by a British female short track speed skater in 2012/13 - finishing the campaign ranked top in the 1000m world rankings, with two European gold medals to her name. Following three disqualifications at Sochi 2014, the 12-time World medallist will be confident of improving on her previous Olympic best result of 11th in the 500m at Vancouver 2010. AFP/Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Eve Muirhead Eve Muirhead became the youngest ever skip to win a Winter Olympic medal when she guided Team GB to bronze at Sochi 2014 in what was her second Winter Olympic appearance. A four-time world junior champion, Muirhead has won multiple European and World senior medals – including a second gold at the 2017 European Championships – and will once again skip Team GB’s women’s curling rink in PyeongChang. AFP/Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Dave Ryding Dave Ryding shocked the alpine skiing world when he claimed Britain’s first World Cup skiing podium for 36 years with slalom silver in Kitzbuhel in January 2017. The man from Bretherton had almost made another trip to the podium in Stockholm in the parallel slalom, but finished an agonising fourth, just 0.06 seconds off a bronze medal. Ryding competed at the Vancouver and Sochi Olympic Winter Games, finishing 17th in the slalom in Russia, and achieved his highest World Championship placing in 2017 when he came 11th. Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Charlotte Gilmartin Charlotte Gilmartin began competing as a junior speed skater for Great Britain aged just 15, before rising through the ranks to regularly compete on the world stage. In January 2016, Gilmartin won 3000m gold and overall silver at the European Championships and added 500m bronze a year later. Getty Images Winter Olympics 2018: 9 British medal hopefuls to watch Andrew Musgrave Andrew Musgrave’s first outing at the Olympic Winter Games came at Vancouver 2010 where he finished 51st in the 15km + 15km double pursuit, 55th in the 15km freestyle race and 58th in the individual sprint. In 2014, he competed in his second Olympic Winter Games in Sochi where he qualified 27th for the individual sprint before finishing 44th in the 15km classical and 53rd in the 50km freestyle. The Dorset-born athlete finished fourth in the 50km freestyle at the 2017 World Championships – a higher placing than any previously achieved by a British Nordic skier. Getty Images

The two countries have also agreed to form a shared women's ice hockey team in a historic moment for the peninsula. This will be the first time ever that a united team from the two Koreas has competed in the Olympics.

This follows the announcement, made earlier today, that North Korea will be sending a 230-person cheering squad to next month's Games as part of the country's 550-strong delegation, which will start arriving in South Korea on 25 January.

North and South Korea opened talks over the Winter Olympics last week - the first time in two years the two nations have been in dialogue.

This has offered respite from rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, which it is pursuing in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

Despite an apparent thaw in relations between the two Koreas, Japan has urged caution over the North’s “charm offensive”.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon (R) shakes hands with the head of the North Korean delegation Ri Son-Gwon during talks this week (Getty)

“It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said. “The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working.”

The initial proposals to form a joint ice hockey team were also met with apprehension, with concerns being raised raised that South Korean players could lose their place to competitors from the north.

Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said on Wednesday that the government is aware of public concerns that adding North Korean players could displace South Koreans who have made the team.