North Korea dashes hopes for diplomatic gold at Tokyo Olympics

Seeing little political payoff, Pyongyang bows out of Tokyo games

20210406N Pyeongchang opening ceremony

North and South Korean athletes walk together under a Korean Peninsula flag at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February 2018. (Photo by Koji Uema)

HIROSHI MINEGISHI, Nikkei senior staff writer

TOKYO -- North Korea has decided not to participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games starting in July, scuttling any hope that the occasion will lead to a diplomatic breakthrough with the rogue state, as the Pyeongchang games did three years ago.

The sports ministry on its website gave a terse statement on withdrawing from the games: to protect its own athletes from the global public health crisis that is the coronavirus.

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.