At the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, South and North Korean athletes joint rider Won Yun-jong and North Korean Hwang Choong-geum are entering the Korean Peninsula at the same time. yunhap news
The relationship between North Korea and Japan, which has been deteriorating, is in the mood for a catastrophe. As soon as Japan decided to extend the’unauthorized sanctions’ imposed for 15 years on the grounds of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, it seemed that North Korea also waited for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games, which were three months ahead, and declared a’match fire’. I put it. This is another major bad news for the Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed for one year due to the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), and it is difficult to accommodate overseas spectators. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s plan for North Korea, who tried to break through the North Korean-Japanese relations on the occasion of the Olympics, was also completely distorted. There are many interpretations that North Korea’s’Norimsu’, which maximizes the damage by selecting Japan’s weaknesses, has been eaten.
North Korea’s apparent reason for non-participation is’player protection’. On the 6th, the North Korean Physical Education Ministry announced on the 6th’Chosun Sports’ website that it had decided not to attend the Tokyo Olympics at the Olympic Committee’s general meeting on the 25th of last month, “to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by a malignant virus infection.” It has been 33 years since the 1988 Seoul Olympics that North Korea skipped the Summer Olympics. North Korea is claiming itself as a’corona clean country’ with no confirmed or fatalities for Corona 19.
However, it is unclear that the decision to abstain from attendance was disclosed only 12 days after the general meeting was held. It means that North Korea will have deliberately chosen the timing of the announcement. On this day, Japan extended sanctions against North Korea, which had been enforced since 2006, by two years, taking into consideration the North Korean nuclear test, launch of ballistic missiles, and the kidnapping of Japanese. The ban on imports and exports to North Korea and the entry of ships with experience in shipping and calling to North Korea are maintained. There is not much to be lost to North Korea due to the sanctions that existed anyway, but Japan suffered a fatal blow to hosting the Tokyo Olympics, and it is highly probable that North Korea would have made a counterattack card to North Korea’s absence from the Olympics.
In Tokyo, Japan, pedestrians wearing masks pass in front of the five-ring sculpture. Tokyo = AP Yonhap News
Kato Katsunobu, Japanese Secretary of State, tried to pretend to be calm, saying, “The Japanese government’s position that it is ready to talk directly with North Korea remains unchanged.” However, the possibility of a’North Korea-Japan Summit’, where Prime Minister Suga has expressed his willingness to promote several times with a clue that it is “without conditions,” has become slimmer. The media reaction is also pessimistic. Kyodo news agency cited diplomatic experts and analyzed that “North Korea’s declaration of absence from the Olympics took away the opportunity for Japan to open up dialogue with North Korea.”
The organizers of the tournament are also embarrassed. An official from the organizing committee in charge of coordination with the Olympic Committees of each country said, “I have not heard anything beforehand. “It’s not in the middle of the night,” he was embarrassed, and Olympic Minister Marukawa Tamayo said, “I’m checking the details.” Another official of the Japanese government said that North Korea has been blocking the borders with China and Russia since the beginning of last year. “If you do not go to the regional qualifiers held in other countries, you will not be able to get the right to participate in the Olympics.” It’s not a job,” he devalued.
It is also noteworthy that North Korea’s declaration of absence will affect other countries that hesitate to participate in the Olympics due to concerns about Corona 19. The Associated Press pointed out that “North Korea has become the first country to absent from the Olympics due to Corona 19. It shows the difficulties facing Japan, which is struggling to host international sports events amid a pandemic.”
Kim Pyo-hyang reporter [email protected]
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