The team met for the first time last week, with the squad now consisting of 35 players, made up of 23 from the South and 12 from the North.

They will compete as Korea under the unification flag and the anthem Arirang, a traditional Korean song often considered an unofficial national anthem which is estimated to be 2,000 years old.

Only 22 players will be able to participate in each game.

The unified team was formed following a four-party meeting on North Korea's participation at the Winter Olympics.

The IOC were viewed as instrumental in the move, which will see the two nations compete together as one team at the Olympic Games for the first time.

Switzerland are due to provide the first opposition for the team on February 10, with their match taking place the day after the Opening Ceremony of the Games.

Bach has claimed he is hopeful of watching the tie at the Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung.

They are then due to play Sweden on February 12 and Japan on February 14.

"I hope I will be able to watch the first match there for the unified team against Switzerland," he told South Korea’s Yonhap News.

"My office is working on this to make it happen.

"I hope they will come up with a positive result."

South Korea's head coach, Canadian Sarah Murray, is in charge of the team of 35 players.

She had expressed concerns over the lateness of the decision to create a unified team, but stated she would not be pressured into playing North Korean players.

North Korea has also sent along its own coach, Pak Chol-ho, to help.

Despite concerns over the chemistry of the team given the lack of training time together, Bach claimed the move had shown the "Olympic spirit".

It followed news that the team had thrown a birthday party for North Korean player Jin Ok, yesterday.

"This is exactly what the Olympic Games and Olympic spirit are about," Bach said.

"You can see at the beginning that there may have been some skepticism among each other.

"These players from [North Korea] arrived, and they got to know each other.

"They were training together, and a couple of days later, they were celebrating birthday in such a way.

"If someone asks you, 'What's the Olympic spirit?' This is it."

"In such a situation of a divided country, a part of the population has only seen the country being divided and doesn't have the experience of being one nation.

"You need to explain and you need to look into the future.

"You need to put it into perspective of the overall development of the world.

"You cannot expect 100 percent support from the very beginning."

Bach’s comments followed a mixed reaction to news of a joint ice hockey team, with a petition having been set up to oppose the move.

Protesters in Seoul have also demonstrated against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un.

The involvement of North Korea at the Games has largely been welcomed, with the move seen as important in reducing tensions in the region.

Prior to the fast-moving talks this month which led to North Korea taking part in the Games, there had been suggestions in December that Bach was prepared to travel to the country to convince them to participate.

The suggestions were ultimately dismissed by the IOC, but Bach has now confirmed he had received an invite to visit North Korea in the future.

He claimed this was a possibility, with discussions over a potential date likely to take place in the future.