I am glad to see someone else is bringing up the long held viewpoint I have shared in regards to North Korean participation in the Olympics:
Bruce Klingner
In the 1960s through the ‘80s, the international community was appalled by South Africa’s apartheid regime and thus banned the country from participating in Olympics.
But in response to North Korea’s far more egregious human rights violations—which the United Nations has ruled to be “crimes against humanity”—the world allows and even encourages Pyongyang to participate.
Why the double standard?
The international community has long tried, and failed, to moderate North Korean behavior and bring about political and economic reform by asking Pyongyang to participate in sporting and other cultural events. Yet with each new attempt, optimists breathlessly anticipate that this time, the appeasement will work.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics was one such example. Taking place only six months after the historic first inter-Korean summit, the sight of North and South Korean athletes walking together behind a non-national unification flag was uplifting and a sign of hope.
Yet behind the scenes, North Korea had demanded and received a secret payment from Seoul, along with payment for the North’s uniforms, and agreement that the North’s delegation would not be outnumbered by the South’s. This prevented many South Korean athletes and coaches from marching into the stadium as part of the Korean entourage.
An inspiring sight to be sure, but as with visits by symphonies and other cultural and sporting envoys, this gesture failed to alter North Korea’s policies and real-world behavior.
Similarly, other attempts at sports diplomacy at events in South Korea—including the 2002 Asian Games, the 2003 University Games, the 2005 Asian Athletics Championship, and the 2014 Asian Games—all failed to improve inter-Korean relations. In 1987, Pyongyang downed a civilian airliner in an attempt to disrupt the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
But as the world seeks to isolate and pressure North Korea for its repeated violations of United Nations resolutions, it should ask itself: Why is Pyongyang still allowed to participate in the Olympics, but South Africa was shunned? [Bruce Klingner]
You can read much more at the link, but most of the world and the IOC fought to keep Apartheid South Africa out of the Olympics, but North Korea a country with a far worse human rights record and a threat to world peace has South Korea and the IOC literally begging them to participate.
This double standard is something that I wish President Trump would Tweet about.
Female divers, or “haenyeo” in Korean, celebrate as they hold the Olympic flame for the 2018 PyeongChang Games as part of the torch relay on the southern resort island of Jeju on Nov. 3, 2017. (Yonhap)
I will say it once again, if the South Africans were banned from the Olympics because of their Apartheid policies than why is North Korea with its far worse human rights violations being championed by President Moon to be part of the Pyeongchang Olympics?:
President Moon Jae-in, center, and former Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, at Moon’s left, both honorary ambassadors for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, pose together to wish for the country’s successful hosting of the sporting event in a ceremony on Monday in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, some 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of Seoul. [YONHAP]President Moon Jae-in renewed his invitation on Monday for North Korea to attend the Winter Olympic Games in the South next year, continuing his strategy of using sports diplomacy to thaw inter-Korean relations.
“I urge the North once again to make a decision,” Moon said. “We won’t have hasty optimism, but there is no need for us to take a pessimistic view either. We will leave the door open and wait until the last moment.”
Moon made the remarks during an event to promote the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Gangwon. The games, scheduled for Feb. 9 to 25, 2018, will start 200 days from Monday. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
I say this every Olympics, but if the South Africans were banned from the Olympics because of their Apartheid policies than why is North Korea with its far worse human rights violations allowed in the Olympics much less championed like President Moon is currently doing?:
President Moon Jae-in, fourth from left in second row, with taekwondo athletes from North Korea, in the second row, and South Korea, in the first row, at the opening ceremony of World Taekwondo’s World Taekwondo Championships in Muju County, North Jeolla, Saturday. [YONHAP]President Moon Jae-in renewed calls for warmer ties with Pyongyang in his remarks at the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju County, North Jeolla on Saturday, inviting North Korea to participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next year to “fulfill the Olympic spirit of harmony and promote world peace.”
Moon’s latest outreach to Pyongyang came as a 36-member demonstration team from the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), which included 32 North Korean nationals, touched down at Gimpo International Airport last Friday to participate in the World Taekwondo’s (formerly World Taekwondo Federation) World Taekwondo Championships.
Among members of the delegation were Ri Yong-son, president of ITF, and Chang Ung, former ITF chief and the only North Korean member on the International Olympic Committee (IOC). While welcoming the North Korean taekwondo team, Moon said he was “delighted” to have accomplished the first “inter-Korean sports cooperation” in his administration, adding that he hopes the ITF and World Taekwondo help bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but a ban on North Korea competing in the Olympics seems like something President Trump could get traction on if he wanted. It would be very interesting to see which countries would defend North Korea participating that supported a ban on South Africa from 1964-1988. The ban was only removed when the Apartheid system was scheduled for removal. Why can’t the same standard be applied to the Kim regime which has done things far worse than what Apartheid South Africa ever did?
I saw this article in The Telegraph as well as posted on other sites and thought to myself it could not possibly be true:
A picture of the supposed corporate jet that mistakenly landed in Pyongyang.
A delegation of corporate sponsors of next year’s winter Olympics in the South Korean city of PyeongChang was flown to the North Korean capital Pyongyang by mistake, it has emerged.
According to the Around the Rings website the pilot of the corporate jet made a mistake when he entered the flight plan into the aircraft’s navigation system.
It steered the aircraft 250 miles further north than its intended destination.
The plane was carrying eight passengers from Beijing who were on a reconnaissance trip.
Bemused flight control staff at the North Korean capital allowed the Gulfstream and its passengers to land before the plane was ushered to a remote part of the airport.
“We stopped on the tarmac. The pilot announced the error. We were petrified about what might happen,” one of the delegation said later.
“He told us to stay seated, stay calm. A cabin steward popped the door open and we could see armed men in uniform facing the plane.”
With the aid of a translator, the pilot apologised profusely. The passengers were told to disembark while their luggage was inspected.
After inspecting the collection of Olympic badges, which were intended to be delivered to PyeongChang, the North Koreans were satisfied that the landing was completely inadvertent and the plane was allowed to carry on to South Korea. [The Telegraph]
This story just sounded to unbelievable to me so I checked out the source posting from the Around the Rings website. The article is from an anonymous source and posted on April 1st, which is April’s Fools Day. This leads me to believe this is a hoax posting.
What gets me about this is that major news outlets were passing this around because of the sensational headline and did not even bother to confirm its authenticity. This is the world of fake news journalism we now live in.
Considering Kim Yu-na’s much higher profile of being a well known Olympic champion I think it was much easier for her to say no to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism compared to lower profile athletes like Son Yeon-jae who netizens are now angered with:
Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae acknowledges spectators on the podium after winning the gold medal in the hoop event at the 7th Asian Gymnastics Championships at a university gym in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, central South Korea, on June 12, 2015. (Yonhap)
Suspicion is rising that the government disadvantaged Olympic champion figure skater Kim Yu-na because she would not cooperate with the scandal-ridden manipulative ties of President Park Geun-hye.
KBS TV reported Saturday that Kim had been on Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism blacklist for turning down a ministry invitation to attend a public trial of “Neulpum calisthenics” in 2014.
The exercise routine was developed by Cha Eun-taek, a commercial director and close acquaintance of the president’s confidant Choi Soon-sil. (……)
Meanwhile, Son Yeon-jae’s agency Galaxia SM website has crashed under high traffic volumes on Sunday evening, as the suspicion spilled over to Son, whom netizens suspect to have benefited from the minsitry for complying with the invitation. [Korea Times]
I wonder if these two American figure skaters would be given dual citizenship or will they have to renounce their US citizenship?:
South Korea will likely grant citizenship to four foreign athletes in preparation of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee met Wednesday to discuss the issue at the Korean National Training Center in northeastern Seoul.
The four include two American figure skaters, Alexander Gamelin and Themistocles Leftheris, and two Russian biathletes.
The two American figure skaters paired with South Korean partners and have been competing in ISU championships as South Korean teams since June of last year. [KBS World Radio]
I can only imagine what the North Korean athletes must have been thinking when they saw this:
North Korea is notorious for keeping a close eye on its athletes during international competition. Kim Jong-un has been spotted several times in the crowd in Rio, but not even North Korean athletes thought he would be this close to the action.
Or at least it appeared to be him.
For those that don’t know, Kim Jong-un is the isolated leader of the People’s Republic of North Korea. “Kim Jong-un,” however, is the life of the party.
The Glorious Leader may not have made it to the Olympic games, but his impersonator definitely did. The Australian-Hongkonger known as “Howard” made his presence felt at the track and field events, where cameras and vigilant viewers have seen him. [Yahoo News]
You can read more at the link, but this guy needs to gain a lot more weight to really look Kim Jong-un.
South Korean women’s volleyball players pose for a photo after defeating Cameroon 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-20) in their last Pool A match at the 31st Summer Olympic Games at Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 14, 2016. South Korea clinched the third seed in its group and advanced to the quarterfinals. (Yonhap)
