North Korean athletes have ended their more than three-year isolation from global multisport competitions by travelling to China for the Asian Games. The country closed its borders in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and skipped the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. As a result, it was banned from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for failing to participate in Tokyo. However, Pyongyang has now sent athletes to the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou later this month. The North Korean athletes are listed on the Games’ website as competing in various sports including athletics, gymnastics, basketball, football, boxing, and weightlifting. This follows a recent easing of border restrictions, with a taekwondo team being allowed to travel to a competition in Kazakhstan. The sporting action at the Asian Games in Hangzhou will start on Tuesday, with North Korea scheduled to face Taiwan in men’s football.
FAIR: The Synchronization of Anti-North Korean Propaganda and the Travel Ban
The September 8, 2023, episode of CounterSpin featured two interviews on the Korean travel ban and forgotten Korean history. The first interview was with Amanda Yee, a writer and organizer, and editor of Liberation News, who discussed the role of the travel ban in the bigger picture. The second interview was an archival interview with...
