hankyoreh

2002 in a match held at Changwon Civic Stadium at part of the Busan Asian Games

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter

North Korea is reiterating its intention to participate in the Incheon Asian Games. Also, North Korea has yet again claimed that South Korea is responsible for the breakdown of inter-Korean working-level talks on July 17. North Korea could be trying to use the question of its participation in the Asian Games as a pretext for demanding a change in attitude from South Korean authorities.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on July 20 that “the Joseon (NK) Olympic Committee has decided to send its athletes to the 17th Asian Games that will take place from September 19 to October 4 in Incheon, South Korea.” This is to say that despite the broken-down inter-Korean working-level talks, North Korea has not changed its position about sending athletes and a cheering squad to Incheon for the Games.

The KCNA also reported that Kim Jong-un “expressed his expectation and conviction that North Korean athletes [who will participate in the Asian Games] will devote themselves even more to practice” in ‘directing’ the practices of the North Korean national soccer team. Kim emphasized that “Participation in the Asian Games will be an important opportunity to improve inter-Korean relations and dispel distrust between the two countries. We must not let the pure spirit of athletic competition be tainted by ill-motivated politics.” In short, the KNCA report indicates that it is Kim Jong-un’s will to have North Korea compete in the Incheon Asian Games.

North Korea blames the South for the breakdown of the inter-Korean working-level talks about the Asian Games. The KCNA reported that the North Korean delegation’s senior representative to the working-level talks released a statement on July 19 claiming that South Korea provoked North Korea at the negotiation table, grilling North Korea about the size of its squads of athletes and cheerleading squad and the projected cost of the venture. But even so, the North Korean representative said North Korea’s participation in the Games was still “entirely contingent upon what kind of attitude the South Korean government brings to the table.”

The South Korean government believes there is a possibility that North Korea will soon make proposals for additional working-level talks between South and North.

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