PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- North Korea's delegation to the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games entered the athletes' village in the South Korean alpine town of PyeongChang on Wednesday.

Kim Mun-chol, who heads the central committee of the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled, expressed warm greetings to South Korea after arriving at the Paralympic Village in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.

"Hello, our beloved compatriots and people with disabilities in the South," Kim told reporters after arriving. "I deliver a warm compatriots' greeting from our people and people with impairments."

The North Korean delegation will have its official welcome ceremony at the athletes' village at 10 a.m. Thursday with delegations of China, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

The 24-member North Korean delegation crossed the border into the South earlier Wednesday. Jong Hyon, a vice chairman of the KFPD, leads a 20-member athletic delegation, while Kim represents a four-member delegation of the North's Paralympic Committee.

In its first ever Winter Paralympics appearance, North Korea sent six athletes, but only two -- Ma Yu-chol and Kim Jong-hyon -- will compete in Nordic skiing events.

The PyeongChang Paralympics will run from Friday to March 18. (Yonhap)