North Korea announced Tuesday that it would not participate in the Tokyo Olympics, an AFP wire service in Seoul said. North Korea’s sports ministry said it was to protect the athletes from the global epidemic of the new crown virus. The report noted that the announcement also dashed expectations that the East Olympics could be an opportunity for dialogue between North Korea and Japan, South Korea and the United States.
North Korea is the first country to announce that it will not participate in this year’s Tokyo Olympics. It is reported that the North Korean Olympic Committee made the decision on March 25 when it held a video conference, but at that time did not make public the decision not to participate in this year’s East Olympic Games, today’s announcement, although the epidemic as the reason, but also may be affected by the continued confrontation with Japan.
On March 25, the first day of the Olympic flame relay, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on that day, a move that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called “absolutely intolerable” at the time, and said he would “consider every possibility to respond” to the possibility that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Woong-jung might visit Japan during the Olympics. “.
North Korea had blitzed the South Korean Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February 2018, demonstrating North-South togetherness. Kim Jong Un held talks with International Olympic Committee President Bach in Pyongyang in March of the same year. At the time, he said he would “definitely participate” in the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The report said that Kim and Jung’s attendance at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics had attracted attention from all sides, and from the standpoint of Japan’s desire to successfully host the Eastern Olympics, the same effect might be expected from Kim and Jung’s visit to Japan. However, this announcement today by the North Korean Olympic Committee has dashed Japan’s possible expectations; in addition, Japan, South Korea and the United States had hoped to restart dialogue with the Pyongyang authorities through the Olympic Games this opportunity.
According to Kyodo’s analysis, the Japanese government will confirm the situation urgently. The background reason for announcing not to participate in the Olympics at this time may also be the cooling of Japan-North Korea relations.
Kyodo said North Korea, which has a weak medical system, is extremely wary of the new crown epidemic and has been blocking its borders since the end of January last year when the epidemic spread in China. North Korea says there are no infected people in the country, but on the other hand, it maintains an emergency epidemic prevention system and does not allow even its own nationals to return from overseas, blocking the movement of people. With the new infections in Tokyo not being quelled, there is a growing view that it is unlikely that North Korea will send a delegation. There are also concerns about the future impact of North Korea’s move, including the spread to other countries.
Kyodo also noted that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has made the resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees by North Korea the most important issue for his government, following the Abe administration’s line of “direct meetings” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In the absence of dialogue between Japan and North Korea, the Japanese side had also considered contacting the North through the Tokyo Olympics, but this became difficult. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsushin said at a press conference on the 6th, “There is no change in the Japanese government’s attitude of taking main body measures and also intending to have direct dialogue.”
Recent Comments