North Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics
| North Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics |
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|---|---|
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| IOC code | PRK |
| NOC | Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
| in Pyeongchang, South Korea | |
| Competitors | Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik in pairs skating events |
| Winter Olympics appearances (overview) | |
North Korea will be represented at the 2018 Winter Olympics by two figure skaters, Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik, should the Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) decide to participate.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanted to have North Korean sportspersons at the Games. In order to increase their chances of qualification, the IOC offered to support them with equipment, accommodation, and travel to qualification events.
North Korean short track speed skaters and Nordic skiers have yet to complete their qualification events A wild card arrangement was considered for the eventuality that no North Korean athlete would have qualified.
The host nation South Korea had proposed a a unified team of the two Koreas at the Games. The team would participate at least in the women's ice hockey event and possibly more disciplines. North Korea refused this in June 2017 on the grounds of time constraints.
Similarly, South Korea had suggested that North Korea could co-host some of the skiing events at the Masikryong Ski Resort. This suggestion came after Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea in 2017. Earlier in December 2014, the organizers had denied the possibility of sharing any part of their bid with the North. Like the unified team proposal, the new co-hosting proposal was refused by the North. North Korea, however, supported South Korea's Olympic bid for the 2018 games. This was unlike in 1988, when North Korea was willing to co-host the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but once those plans failed, it ended up boycotting the Games and bombing Korean Air Flight 858 in what is believed to be an attempt to sabotage the Games.
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