The Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) have not yet submitted their entries for the event, but are planning on sending a team of 10 players who they also hope will appear at this year's Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.

This could include some of those who participated alongside their North Korean counterparts in an ad-hoc unified team in the semi-finals of last week's World Team Championships in Halmstad.

Lee Sang-su, the singles bronze medallist at last year's World Championships, is among others who could potentially appear.

"After talking with the Unification Ministry this week, we will submit entries for the Pyongyang Open," said Park Chang-ik, a KTTA executive, according to the Yonhap news agency.

"Through the ITTF, we've asked North Korea to send an invitation letter to us.

"Any ITTF member can submit its entries freely, but considering the relationship between South Korea and North Korea, we want to discuss it with the Government before we send the list.

"During the World Championships, we expressed our interest in competing at the Pyongyang Open to North Korean table tennis body President Ju Jong-chol, and he also responded positively by saying, 'let's meet in Pyongyang'.

"If the North sends an invitation for the Pyongyang Open, we'll get approval from the Unification Ministry and compete at the event."

There are very few examples of South Korean sports teams participating on northern soil.

Only one of 15 encounters between the two in men's football has taken place in the north - a 2-1 win for North Korea in Pyongyang in 1990 - and a scheduled World Cup qualifying match between the two in 2008 was moved to Shanghai when authorities refused to allow the South Korean flag or anthem to appear.

North and South Korea did meet in a women's Asia Cup qualifier which ended in a 1-1 draw in front of 40,000 spectators at the Kim Il-Sung stadium in the northern capital city last year.

The Pyongyang Open is part of the second-tier ITTF Challenge Tour.

It is due to take place at the Pyongyang Table Tennis Hall from June 13 to 17.

At present, only players from North Korea and a second-string squad from China are entered for the women's singles.

Scotland's Gavin Rumgay is the only non-Chinese or home player currently entered for the men's singles.

Entries will remain open until Monday (May 14), however.

The unified team in Sweden was hailed as another example of "Ping Pong Diplomacy" after a table tennis tour in the 1970s paved the way to a thawing in tensions between China and the United States.

It also prompted criticism, however, because the rules were changed to allow a unified outfit midway through the tournament after North and South Korea refused to play their scheduled quarter-final against each other.

The KTTF are also reportedly open to the idea of a unified team at the Asian Games, but only if they still receive a full quota of players in all the individual events.

Both countries formed a joint women's ice hockey team at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in February, where they marched together at the Opening Ceremony.