Banned from the Olympics by IOC, North Korea puts blame elsewhere
The Hindu
“We could not take part in the Olympics due to the hostile forces’ moves and the worldwide pandemic”
North Korea on Friday said it would skip next month’s Beijing Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic and “hostile forces’ moves,” a largely redundant statement since the country has already been banned from the Games by the IOC.
In September, the International Olympic Committee suspended North Korea through 2022 for refusing to send a team to the Tokyo Summer Games, citing the pandemic. IOC President Thomas Bach said at the time that individual athletes from North Korea who qualify to compete in Beijing could still be accepted. There is no word of that happening.
On Friday, North Korea’s state media said its Olympic Committee and Sport Ministry sent a letter to their Chinese counterparts to formally notify its last major ally and economic pipeline that it cannot attend the Olympics. The Games open on February 4.