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It is the first time since 1988 that North Korea missed the Summer Olympics
Photo:
Eugene Hoshiko / dpa
North Korea has announced that it will not send athletes to the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
The North Korean Olympic Committee decided "not to take part in the 32nd Olympic Games to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by Covid-19," said a website operated by the North Korean Ministry of Sports on Monday.
South Korea expressed its regrets.
Seoul had hoped that the games would have offered an opportunity to »promote peace and reconciliation between the two Koreas«.
The Japanese government said it had taken note of the reports and was working to improve the framework conditions for the Olympic Games, including "anti-infection measures so that many countries and regions can participate in the Tokyo Games."
North Korea took part in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which raised hopes that the nuclear conflict would ease off.
As a high-ranking representative of Pyongyang, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, took part in the games.
Corona should not be the only reason for the boycott
South Korean President Moon Jae-In took the opportunity to mediate talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
As a result, there were several meetings between Kim and the then US President Donald Trump.
However, the last summit between the two politicians in Hanoi in February 2019 failed.
Since then, the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang to dismantle the North Korean nuclear program have been on hold.
The government in Seoul had hoped to use this year's Olympic Games to get the negotiations going again.
According to experts, the corona pandemic is not the only reason for the cancellation.
The relationship between Pyongyang and Tokyo is considered extremely strained.
"It seems that Pyongyang wants to protest against Japan's North Korea policy, because, like the USA, Tokyo repeatedly addresses sensitive issues such as human rights and sanctions," said Seoul North Korea expert Yang Moo-jin of the AFP news agency.
Step backwards for the 2032 Olympic bid
It is the first time since 1988 that North Korea missed the Summer Olympics.
Back then, in the midst of the Cold War, the country boycotted the Seoul Games.
The latest cancellation is also a setback for the plan announced at a summit between the two Korean states in 2018 to jointly apply to host the 2032 Games.
The two neighboring states are formally still in a state of war, since the conflict between 1950 and 1953 was only ended with a ceasefire; there is no peace treaty.
North Korea is one of the few countries that has not yet reported a single corona case.
However, observers assume that diseases have already occurred.
The Tokyo Olympics are slated to take place August 23-8, after being postponed to this summer due to last year's pandemic.
ngo / AFP / Reuters
