North Korean Athletes Spotted Training Safely After Taking Selfie with South Korean Athletes

Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon of the South Korean table tennis team won gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Table Tennis Mixed Doubles Awards Ceremony held at Arena 4 South Paris in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea time), along with China’s Wang Chu-qin and Sun Ying-sha, and North Korea’s Ri Jong-sik, who won silver medals.

North Korean athletes, who are expected to be severely punished for taking a ‘selfie’ with South Korean athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics, have been revealed to be training safely. However, some speculate that since ‘selfie punishment’ has received worldwide attention and criticism, the North Korean authorities were aware of this and made their images public.

On the 18th, Chosun Central TV highlighted the Youth Street Sports Village, saying, “Workers in the sports sector, players and coaches are running vigorously to show the dignity and honor of their country to the world with the gold medal of the championship. “Among the players currently training, Ri Jeong-sik and Kim Geum-young, who won silver medals in table tennis mixed doubles at the last Olympic Games in Paris, were also seen.

North Korea’s table tennis team Ri Jong-sik and Kim Geum-yong hold up the silver medal at the table tennis mixed doubles award ceremony at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games held at Arena 4 De Paris in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea time).

Daily NK quoted a high-ranking source in Pyongyang at the time of the Olympics as saying that the athletes were being evaluated in Pyongyang after returning to Korea, adding, “The Korean athletes, who the authorities defined as enemy number one, right next to them, and they are smiling. The report was said to include the following: “He appeared with a smile on his face.”

There were concerns like “they could be sentenced to labor training for at least 2-3 years” and “they could be sent to a political prison camp,” but given their focus on training, some say no true punishment. However, given that they appeared on TV a month after the Olympics had closed, there is also the possibility that they had already received a light punishment and returned, or that they were deliberately sent on TV without punishment from fear of public attention.