Too risky for health.
The North Korean Olympic committee "has decided not to participate in the 32nd Olympic Games in order to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by Covid-19," the communications department of the Pyongyang Sports Ministry said.
The participation of North Korea, a nuclear power isolated from the rest of the world, in the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was a decisive factor in the spectacular diplomatic rapprochement that took place in 2018.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had attended the Games as her brother's envoy, and the North Korean participation was widely publicized.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in seized the opportunity to initiate a mediation between Pyongyang and Washington which resulted in historic summits between Mr. Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Hopes of relaunching talks between Pyongyang and Washington collapsed
Pyongyang's announcement on Tuesday puts an end to Seoul's hopes of using the 2020 Games, postponed until this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, to spark a revival of the discussion process between Pyongyang and Washington, at the halt since the failure of a Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in February 2019.
Pyongyang's waiver announcement, dated Monday, was posted on the Sports Ministry website on Tuesday.
She refers to a meeting of the North Korean National Olympic Committee on March 25.
The holding of this meeting of the Olympic committee was reported by the official North Korean news agency KCNA without mentioning the decision concerning the Olympic Games.
