North Korea announced in March that the country would not take part in the Tokyo Olympics this year.
A website for the nation’s Ministry of Sport announced North Korea would not compete to protect its athletes “from the global public health crisis.”
North Korea’s no-show is the first time the nation will be absent from the Olympic Games since 1988 - when it boycotted the Seoul Games during the Cold War.
In a statement, the said it had not received “an official application” for North Korea to skip the Tokyo Olympics.
"Unfortunately, the [National Olympic Committee] of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was, despite several requests of the IOC, not in a position to hold a telephone conference," the spokesperson said.
North Korean cheerleaders attend the Men's Slalom at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Source: Getty
North Korea maintains it has no cases of the virus, but politics and international relations expert Dr Benjamin Habib believes this is unlikely.
“There's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that indeed the virus is having an impact in the country,” Dr Habib, senior lecturer at La Trobe University, told Dateline.
“Not attending the Olympics is a little symptom of what's a much bigger issue for them during the pandemic.”
How will North Korea’s no-show impact foreign relations?
North Korea’s absence in the Olympics is a “missed opportunity” for diplomacy, according to North Korea expert, Dr Bronwen Dalton.
Dr Dalton believes sport is one of the few places where North Koreans can really engage with the international community “on a cultural project.”
“The North Korean women's soccer team was one of the most competitive soccer teams in the world and they won the Asian Football Confederation women's cup three times, and the Asian Games another three times,” Dr Dalton said.
“The Olympics is a safe space for what is effectively a dictatorship and probably the area where greatest diplomatic gains can be made.”
Dr Dalton said North Korea’s engagement in the Games has historically allowed for some positive dialogue between the hermit nation and the rest of the world.
At the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, North and South Korea marched out under a big blue unified flag that depicted the Korean peninsula.
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, also boasted friendlier relations for the two historic rivals, as athletes walked into the opening ceremony again as a joint team.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony where South and North Korean delegations paraded together under a joint flag. Source: Getty
South Korea and North Korea have been technically at war for over six decades since the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.
Dr Habib said that the 2018 Winter Olympics came at a low point in Korean relations and provided a “diplomatic circuit breaker” to get the two nations talking.
“The Olympics is useful when there's an engagement process happening. But there's no propaganda value for North Korea to participate at the moment,” he said.
Focusing on internal issues
North Korean experts often emphasise the difficulty of discerning what’s happening on the ground in what they say is one of the most secretive nations in the world.
“North Korea is built on the principles of control and persuasion, and to have an ideology that fosters absolute devotion of its people to the ideals of self-reliance,” Dr Dalton said.
Dr Dalton told Dateline the ultimate objective for North Korea is “the reunification of Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-un.”
Nguyen Thi Xuyen (C), Bui Thi Nhu (R) of Vietnam compete for the ball with Ri Hyang Sim (L) of North Korea during the Olympic Final Qualification Round 2016 Source: Getty
But she said it’s no secret that North Korea is facing its greatest challenges since famine swept through the country in the 1990s, killing up to two million people.
“As a sign of how bad things are, Kim Jong-un said they were facing the worst ever situation back in April,” Dr Dalton said.
“He called on the population to be ready for another Arduous March - the euphemism for famine in North Korea.”
Dr Habib said the hard border closure with China during the pandemic has crumbled North Korea’s economic and food security.
“They're looking like they're really in trouble because they've got this hard border closure going on that's impacting their economy,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea, 11 January 2021. Source: KCNA
He believes North Korea is not providing transparency regarding case numbers as it would consider that to be “a projection of weakness”, exposing the country as vulnerable to an attack.
“The issue is the virus spreading to the extent that it overwhelms the country's healthcare system, and North Korea's health care system is not that well-resourced,” Dr Habib said.
“The government believes it’s surrounded by enemies and that projecting strength is its only sort of viable survival means.”
