NORTH KOREA PULLS OUT OF TOKYO OLYMPICS CITING COVID-19

SEOUL: North Korea said on Tuesday it would not take part in the Tokyo Olympics due to coronavirus concerns, dashing South Korean hopes that the Games could be a catalyst to revive peace talks. It will be the first time North Korea has missed a summer Olympics since it boycotted the Seoul Games in 1988, during the Cold War.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in had hoped the two countries, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, could field a combined team in Tokyo and rebuild momentum for an improvement in relations.

The withdrawal is also a setback for Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s plan, agreed in 2018, to pursue a joint Korean bid to host the 2032 Games. When South Korea hosted the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, Kim sent his sister to head the national delegation, and both teams marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and fielded a combined women’s ice hockey team.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose last month when North Korea resumed missile tests, although both sides said they wanted to continue dialogue. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Seoul had hoped the Tokyo Olympics would be a chance to “foster peace and reconciliation” and expressed regret that it could not happen.

The Tokyo Organising Committee said it would “continue to prepare the best possible stage to welcome athletes from all countries and regions”.