[정치]North Korea “No Participation in Tokyo Olympics due to Corona 19” … disruption of peace plan on the Korean Peninsula

[앵커]

North Korea has officially declared that it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to open in July.

This is because it is to protect athletes from Corona 19, but for the Korean government that was planning a’second Pyeongchang’ through the Tokyo Olympics, aiming to turn the situation on the Korean peninsula, it has missed one of the major moments.

Reporter Hwang Hye-kyung reports.

[기자]

North Korea has officially announced that it will not attend the Tokyo Olympics.

This is through the homepage of’Chosun Sports’ run by the North Korean Ministry of Sports.

On the 25th of last month, the Olympic Committee held a general meeting in Pyongyang, and it was decided not to participate in this Olympics in order to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by Corona 19.

Earlier, North Korea made public the fact that the Olympic Committee meeting was held the following day through state media.

However, at the time, he skipped all the mentions related to attending the Olympics, but in about 10 days, he quietly announced the decision to absent through the’Chosun Sports’, not through the official media.

Since North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the East Sea on the day of the General Assembly and then engaged in a sharp battle with South Korea, the United States, and Japan, doubts are raised against the background of the late notification of absence.

[양무진 / 북한대학원대학교 교수 : 북한의 불참 결정은 외형상으로는 코로나 감염으로부터 선수를 보호하기 위한 것이라고 하지만 최근 납치자 문제 등 일본의 대북 적대시 정책에 대한 일종의 정치적 반발도 작용한 것으로 분석합니다.]

Through the Tokyo Olympics, a setback was inevitable in the government’s initiative to open up a chain of dialogue between the two Koreas and as an opportunity to turn the situation on the Korean peninsula.

[문재인 / 3·1절 기념사 : 올해 열리게 될 도쿄 올림픽은 한일 간, 남북 간, 북일 간 그리고 북미 간의 대화의 기회가 될 수도 있습니다. 한국은 도쿄올림픽의 성공적 개최를 위해 협력할 것입니다.]

An official from the Ministry of Unification hoped that the Tokyo Olympics would serve as an opportunity to advance peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, but regretted that this was not possible.

In the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers scheduled to be held in Seoul, North Korea has not yet officially announced its absence, so the possibility of a successful inter-Korean war remains.

However, as North Korea mentioned the corona situation as a major factor in the absence of the Tokyo Olympics, the domestic Corona 19 situation is expected to remain a variable.

This is YTN Hwang Hye-kyung.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]