North Korea still waiting to see first event of Games

While hundreds of millions of the world’s people got ready to watch the closing ceremony Sunday of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, North Koreans still were waiting to see the first event.

The lack of news at home is a stark contrast with how North Korea’s made-for-the-cameras delegation at the Games, replete with hundreds of cheerleaders and even one of the country’s most popular singers, has been a big hit with the South Korean media and some of the hottest Internet click-bait of the Games. North Korea’s state-run media has never been especially devoted to covering international events. Their job is more about hailing Kim Jong Un and whatever the ruling regime’s latest propaganda message might be. On that front they stayed true to form: The only reports from Pyeongchang as of Saturday were about the visit of Kim’s sister and North Korea’s nominal head of state attending opening ceremony.

No hockey buzz

Olympic hockey survived without the NHL, it just didn’t thrive. Empty seats and a lack of big names failed to generate much buzz. Rene Fasel, head of the IIHF, said he was “disappointed” the NHL didn’t come and wants the pros back for 2022, but he played down the absence.

“You don’t need caviar every day. You can also live without leberkaese and weisswurst,” he said, referring to traditional German meatloaf and sausage.