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North Korea says it does not want to take part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo because of the corona pandemic.

The National Olympic Committee decided on March 25th at a video conference with sports officials and officials from other areas, reported the official "Department of Sports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on its website.

The decision not to take part in the Games was made to "protect our athletes from the global public health crisis caused by Covid-19." The Olympic Games are due to start on July 23.

North Korea is one of the few countries that has not yet reported a single corona case.

Pyongyang closed its borders early last year for fear of the virus being introduced.

However, observers assume that diseases have already occurred in the country.

Russian diplomats have to leave North Korea on trolleys

Due to the corona pandemic, the borders with North Korea are closed.

As a result, Russian diplomats now had to laboriously return to their homeland.

Source: WELT / Russian Foreign Ministry

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“We will continue to prepare for the Games by working closely with the other organizations so that the athletes from each country and region can show their best performances, with a statement Tuesday.

South Korea's Ministry of Unification expressed its regret on Tuesday about the cancellation of the Olympics in the isolated neighboring country.

"The government has hoped that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will promote peace on the Korean peninsula as well as reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas." It was regrettable that it was unable to do so because of the pandemic, it said.

Joint ice hockey team at the games in South Korea

Both Korean states had used the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, to promote their politically difficult rapprochement.

The sport is virtually untouched by the sanctions imposed on North Korea by the UN Security Council over the country's nuclear weapons program.

The joint ice hockey team made up of North and South Korean players was celebrated by fans in Pyeongchang

Source: picture alliance / Kyodo / MAXPPP

In Pyeongchang, North Korea took part with 22 athletes, including twelve women ice hockey players for a team with South Korea.

The ruler Kim Jong Un sent high-ranking delegations to the opening and closing ceremonies as well as a large orchestra and a taekwondo show troupe for the supporting program.

After that, the bilateral sports exchange was initially expanded.

But because the rapprochement between both sides is currently stalling, the exchange in sport and other areas is not making any headway either.