North Korea will not go to Tokyo games
There will be no repetition, unlike the Winter Olympic Games three years ago, of a joint sports team of the two Koreas.The North has finally rejected his participation in the Olympic Games of this summer in Tokyo, through a communication in a specialized publication of his country, on the argument that the displacement to Japan could be a risk of contagion of Covid for his athletes for his athletes.
The decision, according to the North Korean website Sports in the Democratic Popular Republic of Korea (the official name of North Korea) was taken last March 25 during a meeting of the National Olympic Committee and carries both sports and political consequences.Three years ago, the Winter Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea) served as a stage to a series of maneuvers between thawing bambalins between Pyongyang and Seoul after a year of serious tensions and North Korean missile releases.The Kim Jong-un regime sent to the sister and right hand of the leader, Kim Yo Jong, to witness the competitions and open a negotiation that gave as a fruit an approach between the two capitals and, beyond, the initial meeting between Kim andDonald Trump, in Singapore, the first summit of history between a North Korean leader and a US president.South Korea aspired to be able to take advantage of a similar circumstance in Tokyo, at a time when relations between the two neighbors are going through important tensions again.
A joint team is frustrated
North Korean absence also makes it impossible for the two Koreas to present a joint team in one of the competitions, as they did in Pyeongchang.Then, the two countries presented themselves with a unified selection in the female ice hockey competition.Then, and despite the expectation he had aroused, the team accused the lack of joint preparation and went through the tournament with more gross than glory, accumulating three losses and only one goal in favor.
In 2019, when the two Koreas lived a period of thaw in their relationships, both governments had pointed out the possibility of presenting joint equipment in Tokyo and parading under a single flag, that of their unification.Specifically, as mentioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Geneva, the two countries were proposed.
North Korean borders are closed to lime and sing for 15 months.This country, one of the most hermetic in the world, was one of the first to prevent the circulation of people between its territory and outside at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.Since then, he assures that he has not detected a single case of Coronavirus among his population, although he only declares to have made 22.389 tests among its 26 million inhabitants.
The IOC has declared in a statement that it has not received “no official request from the National Committee of North Korea to be released from the obligation to participate, according to the Olympic Charter”.
Although North Korea will not go to the games in Tokyo, it does maintain its national sports competitions.According to the NKNews specialized page, that country has indicated that it celebrates its annual tournaments of commemoration of the founder of the regime, Kim il Sung from this month.The competitions will conclude on the 15th, or Sun Day in North Korea, the anniversary of the birth and one of the most indicated dates in the annual calendar of the country.
Seven Medals in Rio 2016
Since North Korea boycotted the Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 games, he has competed in seven editions in a row.Its absence will prevent the plenary session, 206 National Committees, as in 2012 and 2016 in Tokyo.His athletes total 54 medals, with lindraphily (17) and the fight (10) most outstanding comforts.In Rio 2016 they achieved seven medals, two of gold, in artistic gymnastics and in female haleterophilia.It also stands out in shooting and table tennis.
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