North and South Korea will field joint teams in three sports - canoeing, rowing and women's basketball -at the Asian Games, organisers said Thursday, in the latest sign of thawing tensions. The two countries will also march together at the opening and closing ceremonies for the showpiece event being held in Indonesia from August 18-September 2, they added. Seoul and Pyongyang agreed this month to form unified teams for some sports though the specifics were only confirmed yesterday after a meeting in Jakarta between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Games organisers and representatives from the two Koreas.

"We won't add any more (sports)," Games deputy chairman Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters after the meeting Thursday.

"We have to be strict with scheduling so there will be no more changes."

The athletes from the Koreas will march under a neutral Korean peninsula flag and under the "Korea" name. The two Koreas formed their first-ever unified Olympic team -a joint women's ice hockey squad -for February's Winter Games in the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang. Ties between the neighbours have been warming since the Winter Olympics, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreeing at an historic summit in April to jointly participate in international sports events.

The three-team plan comes after the OCA had earlier dismissed the idea of granting extra places for unified Korean teams at an event which will see about 10,000 athletes compete in 40 sports -the second-biggest multi-sport event behind the Olympics. The Games will be held in Indonesia's capital and Palembang on Sumatra island.