( LEAD ) Women ' s hockey coach has ' mixed feelings ' over joint Korean Olympic team ( ATTN : ADDS comments throughout ) By Yoo Jee - ho JINCHEON , South Korea , Jan . 22 ( Yonhap ) -- South Korea women ' s national hockey coach Sarah Murray said Tuesday she has " mixed feelings " about having to coach the joint Korean team at the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics . At a hastily scheduled press conference at the national team practice rink , Murray said it ' s " exciting " to coach the first - ever unified Korean team in any sport at the Olympic Games , though she wished it didn ' t have to come at the expense of her own players . " It ' s exciting to be a part of something that ' s so historic , to have two countries so divided come together through sports , " Murray said at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon , 90 kilometers south of Seoul . " I think the story is great and to be a part of it is important . But at the same time , it ' s mixed feelings because it ' s at the expense of , ' We don ' t get to play our full roster . '" The International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) announced last Saturday North Korea will have 12 players join the current 23 - player South Korean squad for the women ' s hockey tournament at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics . While staying on as the head coach of the unified team , Murray has to put at least three North Koreans into the lineup . South Korea women ' s hockey head coach Sarah Murray speaks at a press conference at a press conference at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon , North Chungcheong Province , on Jan . 22 , 2018 . ( Yonhap ) The actual game rosters remained unchanged at 22 , with 20 skaters and two goaltenders . Murray would have only needed to leave one player out for each game without the IOC decision . Now , with the start of the Feb . 9 - 25 Olympics only weeks away , Murray finds herself in a difficult situation of incorporating unfamiliar faces into her system and having to cut four of her own players for each game . Murray said she doesn ' t yet know which 12 players from North Korea will come and when , and she added , " I hope they come as soon as possible so we can start practicing right away . " She said she has put together " a ghost roster " that includes North Korean players , and for the time being , they ' re placed on the fourth line and the last defensive pairing . " The chemistry on our first , second and third lines is really strong , and the North Koreans ' style of play is suited to our fourth line , " Murray added . " They ' re tough , they block shots , and they forecheck . I think they ' d fit that role really well . " But that doesn ' t mean they ' ll be stuck there at the Olympics . " If they work hard and they earn their ice time , and one of our players chooses not to work hard , then who knows what can happen ? " Murray said . When she first learned of the IOC ' s decision , Murray said she was concerned more about how many of her own players wouldn ' t dress , rather than how many North Koreans would be added . " When you find out any number of players aren ' t going to dress for your team , it ' s not great news , " she said . " Of the possible solutions to the problem or different scenarios they gave us , having three ( North Korean ) players was one of the better solutions . We ' re happy we ' re not having to dress as many as 12 players . We ' re just moving forward and dealing with the situation that ' s been given us . " Murray previously said she doesn ' t think any North Korean player is good enough to crack the top three lines . And she won ' t just put any North Korean player on the ice just to give them Olympic experience . " Right now , our plan is we ' re going to pick the best players . We ' re trying to win at the Olympics , " she said of her 22 nd - ranked team that has been on the rise in recent years . " Now our players believe they can win . So we ' re not going to make a line just to make a line of North Korean players just so they can get ice time . We ' re going to put in players that are going to be successful and we ' re going to play to win with the roster we have . " Asked if she was wary of any pressure from political circles to play all North Koreans at least once , Murray said she ' s been assured she has " the ultimate control . " " As far as I know , I have complete control and I am going to play the players I want , " she added . South Korea suggested forming the joint team on Jan . 9 and the two sides agreed on it last Wednesday . South Korean Sports Minister Do Jong - hwan first raised the possibility of a single Korean hockey team last June . It appeared to fade away in the face of some criticism , but resurfaced at the start of the new year , after North Korean leader Kim Jong - un said he ' d send his athletes to PyeongChang for the Olympics . South Korea women ' s hockey head coach Sarah Murray ( R ) chats with her assistant , Kim Do - yun , during a press conference at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon , North Chungcheong Province , on Jan . 22 , 2018 . ( Yonhap ) The subsequent inter - Korean meetings on the North ' s participation had the hockey team issue on their agenda , and it didn ' t take long for the IOC to give its stamp of approval . South Korea has faced some backlash at home for its push to bring North Korean players on board . Critics of the idea say South Korean players will unfairly lose their playing opportunity and that the government is only using the sport of hockey as a political tool . Supporters of the move say having a few players sit out games is a relatively minor issue when considering the greater good -- namely , peace on the Korean Peninsula -- it could achieve . Murray said she wasn ' t " really that angry " about how things have led to the joint team and how much she ' d been kept in dark , because getting upset was a waste of energy . " We don ' t have a lot of days leading up to the Olympics , and we can ' t waste any extra energy being angry , " she said . Murray also said the timing for the joint team " isn ' t fantastic " because the Olympic Games are just around the corner , but she has called on her players to focus on what they can control and not get sidetracked by anything else . " It ' s a tough situation to have our team be used for political reasons , but it ' s something that ' s bigger than ourselves right now , " she said . " We ' re dealing with it the best we can . We know we have no control . Why stress about it ? Why worry about it ? It ' s negative energy . " The sport of hockey has never been discussed with as much fervor in the country . And Murray said one positive that can come out of this situation is that hockey will generate much interest in the sport . " So many young athletes are going to see us and get interested , and adding North Koreans gives our sport more publicity , " she said . " Hopefully , more people are going to watch and we ' ll have more female athletes competing in the Olympics in the future . " South Korea is in Group B at the Olympics . Its first game is against world No . 6 Switzerland at 9 : 10 p . m . on Feb . 10 , with fifth - ranked Sweden up next at 9 : 10 p . m . on Feb . 12 . The final group match is against ninth - ranked Japan at 4 : 40 p . m . on Feb . 14 . All games will be played at the Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung . jeeho @ yna . co . kr ( END )