It was a heartwarming moment that captured the Olympic spirit, but North Korea’s table tennis champions may be punished for joining a selfie with their opponents from the South.

Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, who won silver medals, are said to be undergoing “ideological evaluation” along with other athletes who returned from the Paris Games.

The assessment is a standard procedure to “cleanse” the team from “exposure to contamination” abroad, the Daily NK reported.

North Korean athletes were reportedly given “special instructions” not to interact with South Koreans or other foreign athletes in Paris, under threat of repercussions.

Since returning from France, the Olympic team is believed to be in the process of a three-stage ideological assessment process by the country’s ministry of sport.

It is said to last about a month, with the intention of purging any lingering influence of “non-socialist” culture.

  • brezel@piefed.social
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    4 months ago

    it’s incredible how it is possible to enslave an entire nation. these poor people.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    The Workers’ Paradise of North Korea is clearly just trying to protect itself from the Globalhomo menace /s

    • neidu2@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      Yup. Also, they’re happy and fine. Everything you hear to the contrary is just western propaganda.

  • Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Why the hell do we allow North Koreans to join us in anything internationally? Brutal dictatorships should not be enabled in any way

    • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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      4 months ago

      Precisely for the togetherness that you see in that picture…and NK had to see it as a threat, of course.

        • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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          4 months ago

          According to Daily NK, a media outlet specializing in North Korean affairs, the North’s delegation returned to Pyongyang on Aug. 15 and is going through what has been described as an ideological evaluation.

          This is a standard procedure for North Koreans who have been exposed to non-communist cultures while abroad. The media outlet said that North Korea views staying in a non-communist country as a form of “exposure to contamination.”

          https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2024/08/600_381093.html

          PS: found the article they cite https://www.dailynk.com/chinese/朝鲜运动员在奥林匹克跟韩国选手嬉笑自拍而/

          • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            Ok, and who is the daily NK and what is their source?

            The source is “anonymous sources”, and the daily nk is a US-South Korean joint propaganda project.

            • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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              4 months ago

              Good, probably fake news then, the rest of the world, including China, was glad to see it, so hopefully it is also shown and seen positively by NK. But nobody knows what happens in NK through official channels, “fake news” from anonymous sources is all we have.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah, it’s pretty weird that they’re banning (rightly but not thoroughly enough) Russia, but North Korea, Israel, and China get to participate as equals with the countries that AREN’T currently committing genocide, starving millions, and doping like there’s no tomorrow.

      It’s almost like the ACTUAL reasoning of the IOC is nonpublic and laundry based.

      • BlemboTheThird@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        I’m pretty sure Russia only got banned because they had a state-sponsored doping system. Long as you don’t get caught with that, you can be as authoritarian as you want.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          If that was true, how come China’s allowed to compete with no restrictions after having 8 of their swimmers test positive in Tokyo and more just weeks before the games?

          • BlemboTheThird@lemmy.ca
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            4 months ago

            I’m no expert. But probably there just isn’t enough evidence yet to accuse China as a whole of systematically doping its athletes. I’d imagine they err on the side of “allowing participation” with this kind of stuff.

  • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Table tennis champions said to be in ‘cleanse from exposure to contamination’ following podium picture with opponents

    Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, who won silver medals, are said to be undergoing “ideological evaluation” along with other athletes who returned from the Paris Games.

    the Daily NK reported.

    Citing anonymous official sources in Pyongyang, the news outlet, which specialises in North Korean affairs

    Hmmm…

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_NK

    Daily NK is a recipient of funding from multiple institutions and private donors, including the National Endowment for Democracy,[4] an NGO funded by the U.S. Congress. Daily NK’s president is Lee Kwang-baek.

    The organization is part of a consortium with the Unification Media Group, which is a South Korea–based non-profit organization that produces and delivers radio content into North Korea via short-wave radio broadcasts.

    So it’s a NED funded propaganda network controlled by Lee Kwang-baek

    https://www.dailynk.com/english/author/lee-kwang-baek/

    Lee Kwang Baek has served as Daily NK’s president since 2014 alongside his role as president of Unification Media Group. He is an advisor to the Korea Hana Foundation

    https://koreahana.or.kr/home/eng/contents.do?menuPos=2

    The Korea Hana Foundation(KHF) is a non-profit public organization established by Ministry of Unification in 2010. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Unification

    The Ministry of Unification (Korean: 통일부; Hanja: 統一部) is an executive department of the South Korean government

    So the source for this story is another story citing “anonymous sources”, and that original story is from a US-South Korea joint propaganda project?

    Nice.

    • WanderingVentra@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Thanks for actually delving into the sources. Telegraph already isn’t the best source and it seemed hard to believe.

  • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    They must have been exposed to too much light in Paris. It is the city of light after all.

  • MaDMaX99@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    And of course The telegraph has been informed by the North Korean authorities what they’re doing to those athletes…. Propaganda!!

    • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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      Seriously, how would we even know this? I hurt this was the onion or another satirical publication at first.

  • p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I know it seems extreme but the best thing Paris can do for these poor souls is keep them indefinitely.

    • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Kidnapping is based when the west does it to Asian?

      Then you wonder how colonialism happened…

      • p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Kidnapping is based with North Koreans if it means giving them a better, happier and healthier life and a chance to let these particular athletes escape what will inevitably be a death sentence for taking a picture with the South Koreans. Are you just clueless or what? Kim has enslaved their entire nation with an iron fist.

        • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          Kidnapping is based with North Koreans if it means giving them a better, happier and healthier life

          So as long as you believe you’ll give them a better life you can kidnap them? Isn’t that the logic north Korea themselves use to to isolate from the rest of the world?

          So the north Korea can’t use this logic to ban western influence but you can use it to kidnap people from a foreign nation and thats justified?

          let these particular athletes escape what will inevitably be a death sentence for taking a picture with the South Koreans.

          And you’re basing this “inevitable death sentence” off of what?

          An article, citing another article hosted by a “news agency” which is a NED/South Korean government United propaganda project, and cites “anonymous sources” who says they could have to publicly denounce the action?

          Are you just clueless or what? Kim has enslaved their entire nation with an iron fist.

          Meanwhile you’re ready to advocate for the kidnapping of people from another country to save them based on nothing.

          Pure white saviourism, as I said, people wonder how people allowed colonialism to happen…

          • p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Lol yeah, I do feel it’s justified. You are welcome to disagree, and that’s 100% ok. If you’re expecting me to respond and debate this, it’s not going to happen. Have a nice day!

            • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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              4 months ago

              I wonder what North Koreans would think if they knew there was a “debate” on if it’s acceptable to kidnap and hold them against their will…they’d probably understand why their govt is so careful and isolationist when it comes to the west.

                • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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                  4 months ago

                  Yes, you obviously don’t care about North Koreans, you just like the idea of “punishing” their government by kidnapping their people…