PYONGYANG (REUTERS) - An opening ceremony of the 20th World Taekwondo Championships took place on Sunday (Sept 17) at Taekwondo Holy House in Pyongyang.

Video provided to Reuters by North Korea's state news agency KCNA, which cannot be independently verified, showed the delegation from 69 countries and North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) officials attending the ceremony.

The ITF is headquartered in North Korea and is a separate organisation to the World Taekwondo (WT), which is headquartered in South Korea.

A South-Korea led demonstration team had been considering a visit to Pyongyang for the ITF championships but the visit has not materialised, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

The championships will run until Thursday.