[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] North Korea, which declared it would not participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled for next month, showed interest in issues related to the dispatch of our Olympic delegation and disparaged the related preparations.
North Korea's external propaganda outlet 'Tongil-ui Mea-ri' (Echo of Unification) on the 23rd cited some of our media reports and claimed, "Social controversy is expanding in South Korea over participation in the 24th Winter Olympic Games (Beijing Olympics)."
It continued, "When the (South Korean) authorities stated that they are 'considering dispatching an appropriate delegation in view of precedent' to the Winter Olympic Games, the opposition parties launched a criticism offensive, calling the dispatch of a delegation 'a submissive diplomacy.'"
It then forecasted, "It is expected that the level of criticism between the ruling and opposition parties in the political sphere will intensify further."
The outlet falsely claimed that our media reported "the majority of the representative team athletes are in a weak state due to lack of training caused by the severe infectious disease situation," and "there are serious discord and conflicts among the representative team athletes," adding, "Voices lamenting that a dark age has come to the (South Korean) sports world are erupting."
Earlier, on the 5th, North Korea officially announced its non-participation in the Olympics through a letter delivered to the Chinese side, stating, "Due to the hostile forces' provocations and the global pandemic situation, we are unable to participate in the games."
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