The 19th Asian Games marked North Korea’s first appearance at a major sports competition since the Covid-19 lockdown in December 2019. Pyongyang prided itself with six new world records, six gold medals, five silvers and two bronze in weightlifting at the Hangzhou Asian Games. In particular, weightlifter Ri Song-gum shocked many by lifting a combined 216kg at the competition, with 2021’s Taiwanese record holder, Kuo Hsing-chun, commenting that “I actually came to watch that day and when I saw it, I said it was just too scary. … They (North Korea) have been strong in the past for many years so it is not too surprising that they would have such results, but it is still pretty scary.”
REFEREE ATTACK AFTER LOSS TO JAPAN
North Korea’s soccer team made headlines during the Games when their captain, Jang Kuk-chol, and teammate, Kim Kyong-sok, furiously protested and shoved the arm of referee Rustam Lutfullin after the latter awarded Japan a late penalty in the quarterfinals. Security officials rushed to the scene to separate the players from Lutfullin at Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium after North Korea’s 2-1 loss to Japan. Despite the controversial confrontation, North Korea's coach, Sin Yong-nam, defended his players and insisted that, “I admit that our players were a little bit over excited in the match but it is football … There are confrontations in football matches … I think our behavior is acceptable.”
The North’s loss to Japan continued in women’s football, where they brought home a silver medal after losing 1-4 to Japan. North Korea’s team reportedly lost their rhythm in the match when their forward, An Myong-song, was replaced with Sung Hyang-sim due to a knee injury shortly after Japan scored its first goal 11 minutes into the game.
VICTORY OVER SOUTH KOREAN ‘PUPPETS’
However, the DPRK did not end in total defeat. Most notably, the women’s football team eliminated its long-term rival, South Korea, by 4-1 in the quarterfinals earlier last week. North Korea’s team scored four goals in 94 minutes and successfully sent the South home early, causing the South Korean team’s coach to complain that one of the North’s players pretended to have suffered a painful foul that led to one of his team being sent off.
In addition, state media in North Korea, including Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central Television, hailed their national women football team’s victory over South Korea’s “puppets” as a form of propaganda victory, stating that “The match ended with our country’s team beating the puppet team by an overwhelming margin of 4-1.” Experts noted that although the use of derogatory terms concerning political and military issues in the South is common, using such expressions in relation to a sporting event is unusual. It is therefore speculated that the reference to “puppets” when describing South Korea at the Games indicates an attempt to instill hostility toward South Korea among North Koreans and that this would likely become a standard label in the future, regardless of the topic. According to Hong Min, Director of North Korean research division at the Korea Institute for National Unification, “It’s part of North Korea’s move to shift away from the previous framework that depicted the North and South relations as a special one and treated the two countries as a unified entity, into a more adversarial relationship.”
The state channels did not publicize North Korea’s defeats against South Korea in basketball by 62-81 and table tennis by 1-4, which may reflect the escalated tensions and current diplomatic positions of the two countries. As Simon Cockerell, the general manager of travel agency Koryo Tours, suggested, only victories are reported in North Korea. It is also interesting to note that during the Games, the DPRK team reportedly showed a cold attitude not only to reporters but also to South Korean players whom they have crossed paths with before. The violent clashes and unfriendly gestures seen on the pitch were therefore viewed by analysts as signs that political tensions had spread to the realm of sport.
