North Korea barred from participating in Beijing Winter Olympics
CNN
North Korea has been barred from competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as part of its punishment for its "unilateral decision" to drop out of the Tokyo Games this summer, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Wednesday.
Pyongyang chose not to send its athletes to the Summer Games due to concerns its athletes could contract Covid-19 and bring the virus back into the impoverished nation. Experts believe a Covid-19 outbreak would overwhelm North Korea's dilapidated health care infrastructure. The IOC said it gave North Korea's Olympic Committee "a fair opportunity to be heard," but also communicated "very clear warnings about the consequences of its position" not to send athletes to Tokyo.More Related News