North Korean Olympic Athletes at Risk of Punishment for Smiling in Picture with ‘Hostile Nation’ – One America News Network
OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:48 AM – Monday, August 26, 2024
The North Korean Olympic table-tennis team is potentially facing consequences for “grinning” in a photo with an “enemy country.”
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A viral selfie of the North Korean Olympic table-tennis team and a South Korean Olympian portrayed a warm symbol of sportsmanship around the world, except for North Korea where the athletes are under scrutiny for their actions.
The North Korean table-tennis team received a silver medal for their performance in the 2024 Paris Olympic games, while the Chinese athletes received gold. The South Korean team received a bronze medal.
North Korea’s Kim Kum-yong and teammate Ri Jong-sik are potentially facing consequences by North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un as the Olympians were given “special instructions” to not interact with foreign athletes at the Olympics.
Following the Olympic Games, the athletes are undergoing a month-long “cleanse” which stems from “exposure to contamination,” as reported by the Daily NK, a Seoul based news outlet with sources inside North Korea.
The North Korean state government finds the need for a “cleanse” necessary to clean out any “non-socialist” messaging that the athletes may have been exposed to which conflicts with official state narratives.
North Korea is reportedly requiring athletes to follow a “three-stage ideological assessment process by the country’s ministry of sport,” according to the New York Post.
The North Korean government has a history of punishing its athletes for perceived disobedience. In 2010, the North Korean football team did not play up to par and reportedly received a six-hour public criticism session. The coach was sent to work in construction.
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