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North Korea has announced that it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics to protect players. The resumption of dialogue through the Olympics has ceased.



Reporter Ahn Jung-sik reports.



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North Korea has announced that it will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to open in July.



North Korea announced that it had made this decision at the Olympic Committee's general meeting held last month through'Chosun Sports', the website of the Ministry of Sports.



The North Korean Ministry of Sports said that the Olympic Committee meeting was held in Pyongyang on the 25th of last month, and that it has decided not to participate in the Tokyo Olympics to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by Corona 19.



The general meeting was held last month, but North Korea made such information publicly available on the website of the Ministry of Physical Education as of yesterday.



As a result, the government's plan to use the Tokyo Olympics as an opportunity for dialogue between the two Koreas, North America, and North Korea became difficult to realize.



North Korea said at the Olympic Committee's general meeting last month that it emphasized continuing to increase the number of medals earned in international competitions during the new five-year economic development plan and to boost the athletic fever across the country.



Despite this policy, the decision to abstain from the Tokyo Olympics is evaluated as showing North Korea's policy stance that prioritizes the prevention of Corona 19.



The government said it has hoped that the Tokyo Olympics will serve as an opportunity to advance peace on the Korean Peninsula and reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas.