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

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.

  • Antmz22@lemm.eeEnglish
    508·
    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.eeEnglish
      18·
      4 months ago

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