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N. Korea Withdraws from Tokyo Summer Olympics Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - North Korea says it will notparticipatein the
   upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

   Thecountry's sports ministry said the decision was made "in order to
   protect players from the world public health crisis caused by
   COVID-19,"in a statement dated Monday.

   If North Korea follows through with the decision, it would be the first
   time it has skipped an Olympics since 1988, when the games were in
   Seoul.It is the first country to pull out of this year's Tokyo games.

   The Tokyo games have been delayed a year due to thecoronavirus butare
   set to beginJuly 23 with strict virus-prevention measures in place.

   North Korea, which is particularly vulnerable to disease outbreaks, has
   imposed perhaps the world's most stringent coronavirus prevention
   measures.

   Formore thana year, the country hasattemptedtoalmost completelyseal its
   borders and has implemented even stricter than usual domestic travel
   restrictions.

   North Korea insists its border restrictions have succeeded in keeping
   the virus out of the country--a claimlargely dismissedby experts.

   Some Korea watchersexpress concernPyongyang will use the pandemic to
   extend its draconian restrictions indefinitelytoimpose greater control
   on the population.

   North Koreahasone of the world's poorest countries,observers say,and
   does not have adequate health infrastructure. The coronavirus lockdown
   made things worse, with reportsemergingoffoodand medicine shortages.

   Impact on diplomacy

   The North's decision to skip the Tokyo Olympics suggests the
   lockdownwill notend anytime soon. Butexpertssay Pyongyang could reverse
   its decision.

   "This seems as much a political decision designed to snub/pressure
   Tokyo & Seoul as much as it is a public health concern," tweeted Jean
   Lee, Director of the Korea Program at The Wilson Center in Washington,
   D.C.

     Has any other country announced it would skip [1]#Tokyo2020
     Olympics? This seems as much a political decision designed to
     snub/pressure Tokyo & Seoul as much as it is a public health
     concern.[2]https://t.co/rzvlS1ZL60
     -- Jean H. Lee (@newsjean) [3]April 6, 2021

   South Korea had proposed using the summer games as a catalyst for
   renewed sports diplomacy between the two Koreas.

   Such a strategy has worked in the past. In 2018, Seoul successfully
   converted inter-Korean sports cooperation at the Winter Olympics into a
   series of North-South meetings, which eventually led to talks between
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

   Those talks have now been stalled formore thana year. North Korea said
   last month it considers any talks a"waste of time"unless the
   UnitedStateschanges its approach.

   South Korea's President MoonJae-in, leader of the
   country'sDemocraticParty, has less than a year in office and is willing
   to resume talks with North Korea.

   Some in South Korea are pushing for South and North Korea to jointly
   host the 2032 Olympic games, though it is far from clear whether
   Pyongyang would accept.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://t.co/rzvlS1ZL60
   3. https://twitter.com/newsjean/status/1379242281597857794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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