The country said it would skip this summer’s Olympic Games to “protect players from the global public health crisis caused by Covid-19,” according to a report published on Tuesday in North Korean media DPRK sports, a website on issues sporting goods.
The decision was made by the DPRK Olympic Committee, which held a videoconference meeting with committee members and sports officials on March 25 in the capital Pyongyang, DPRK Sports reported.
The Games are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8. The Paralympics continue from August 24 to September 5.
Organizers were forced to postpone the Olympics for the first time in the event’s history in March 2020 due to the Coronvairus pandemic.
Last month, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said that international viewers would not enter Japan due to the prevalence of coronaviruses at home and abroad.