The Summer Asian Games, a sports festival for some four-point-seven billion Asian people, will kick off on September 23 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China. There will be 483 gold medals up for grabs in the eastern Chinese city, which is hosting the Asiad after a one-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea is set to send its largest Asian Games delegation of 1,180 athletes and officials. At this year’s Asian Games, South Korea is aiming to reclaim second spot from Japan in the medals table, after China. North Korea also looks set to participate in the upcoming event. 

Today, we’ll talk about North Korea and the Asian Games with Seong Mun-jeong, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Sport Science. 

North Korea has stayed away from international sports events in recent years, confining itself to home. Breaking its silence, however, the country is expected to take part in the Hangzhou Asian Games this fall. 

During a press conference in June, 100 days before the opening of the Hangzhou Games, the Asiad organizing committee said all 45 Olympic committees from Asian countries and regions have signed up for this year’s Asian Games. Although it did not directly mention North Korea, the announcement is interpreted as an official confirmation of North Korea’s attendance at the Asian Games, as the figure 45 includes North Korea. 

North Korea’s participation in the Hangzhou Games, if it proves to be true, will mark its first appearance at a major international sporting event in five years since the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games. Since early this year, anticipation has been running high for North Korea’s registration in this year’s Asian Games. 

The International Olympic Committee or IOC suspended North Korea through 2022 for withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 because of COVID-19 fears. As the North became free from the ban this year, the country convened a general meeting of its Olympic Committee in March to discuss plans for this year. 

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Television has also organized a program about famous sports players and leaders, including Pak Yung-sun(박영순), who was dubbed “Queen of Table Tennis” for winning the World Championships in the 1970s. North Korea’s first appearance at the Asian Games dates back to the 1970s. 

The 7th Asiad held in Tehran in 1974 marked a milestone in the history of the Asian Games, as a large number of communist countries participated in the event. At the time, North Korea won 15 gold medals to rank fifth overall in the medal standings. How has the country been performing in the Asian Games afterwards? 

North Korea underperformed at the Asian Games in the 1990s, when the country suffered from extreme economic difficulties, known as the Arduous March. But the North still ranks high, at least in Asia, in some sports events, which it has fostered intensively. In the current Kim Jong-un era, in particular, archery, women’s football, marathon, boxing, gymnastics and taekwondo have newly been added to the list of “disciplines with a chance of winning” at international competitions. North Korea has actually produced tangible results in those areas. 

North Korea set five world records in weightlifting at the 2014 Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon, the first Asiad after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un assumed power. Meanwhile, North Korea won the gold medal in women’s football, beating the 2011 world cup winners Japan. 

North Korean athletes who stand out in international competitions including the Asian Games are entitled to special treatment. 

North Korean gymnast Ri Se-gwang came to sudden prominence at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, winning a gold medal in vault. He received a home as a gift. 

For athletes, however, it is the title of “Labor Hero,” along with the title of “People’s Athlete,” that is more important than gifts. The honorary title of “Labor Hero” is presented to those who provide a distinguished service in economics, culture or construction. Gymnast Ri also became “Labor Hero,” although this title is lower than the title of “Hero or Heroine of the Republic” that was given to marathoner Jong. 

Once athletes become sports stars, they gain both wealth and honor. So, who will rise to stardom at the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games? 

According to foreign media outlets, North Korea registered a delegation of about 200 athletes and officials with the Hangzhou Asian Games. The media did not disclose details, such as major players and sports events joined by North Korean athletes. But North Korea is expected to compete in events like weightlifting, gymnastics and wrestling, in which the country has a strong presence. Female weightlifter Ri Song-gum, who is included in the list of top players, expressed her ambition to produce results at an international competition. 

South Korea also aims to win medals in the events, in which North Korea holds dominance. Therefore, South and North Korea will likely face off in many games at the Hangzhou Games. Unfortunately, the memorable scene of inter-Korean harmony at the previous Asian Games is unlikely to revive in Hangzhou. 

The Asian Games have been about bringing South and North Korea together through sports. 

At the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, the two Koreas rooted together for their teams for the first time. 

South and North Korea marched together behind the Korean Unification Flag during the opening and closing ceremonies at the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in 2018, when a warm breeze was blowing in inter-Korean relations. At the time, they fielded unified teams in three sports—women’s basketball, canoeing and rowing. 

Their joint entrance to international sports events and the formation of joint teams delivered a message of peace and harmony to the global village. But it is very unlikely to see such a scene at the Hangzhou Asian Games, due to North Korea’s repeated missile provocations. 

If North Korea participates in this year’s Asian Games, it may possibly attend the Paris Olympics next year. 

The Hangzhou Asian Games appear to be a prelude to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Will North Korea return to the international sports arena through this year’s Asian Games in China? The North has implied that it may attend the Paris Olympics, following the Asian Games in Hangzhou. It remains to be seen whether North Korea will maintain this position.