- North Korea said on Tuesday it would skip this year’s Olympics, citing concerns about COVID-19.
- Japan, the host country, had just extended unilateral sanctions against North Korea for two years.
- The news lessens optimism that the games may have led to negotiations between the two Koreas and the United States.
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North Korea says it will skip the Tokyo Olympics to protect its athletes from COVID-19, an announcement that coincided with Japan’s extension of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea.
The North Korean Ministry of Sport said in a statement to The Washington Post: “The National Olympic Committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea discussed and decided not to participate in the 32nd Olympic Games to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by the pandemic of virus. “
Nikkei Asia reported that this withdrawal marked the first time that North Korea skipped the Olympics since 1988 – when the North withdrew because the games were being held in South Korea.
North Korean state media reportedly reported that the withdrawal decision was taken on March 25, although the announcement was made at a time when Japan said it would extend unilateral sanctions against North Korea for another two years.
These sanctions are not new. Tokyo imposed limited sanctions against North Korea in 2006, banning bilateral trade and flights between North Korea and Japan and preventing North Korean ships from entering Japanese waters or docking at Japanese ports.
Broader sanctions – which went into effect in 2009 – have banned exports to North Korea.
According to reports from The Japan Times, Japan has spent the past few months considering the extent of its unilateral sanctions.
The sanctions were due to expire on April 13, but Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, hinted last week that Japan was looking to extend sanctions in response to the March 25 ballistic missile tests in South Korea. North.
According to a report by The Japan Times, a Japanese government source said the extension was seen as a way to pressure Pyongyang, with the aim not only of denuclearizing, but also of holding North Korea responsible for the kidnapping of about 17 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
The extension of sanctions to Japan was formalized on Tuesday.
“Since Prime Minister Koizumi’s last visit to North Korea in 2004, bad relations between the two countries have persisted,” Atsuhito Isozaki, associate professor at Keio University, told Japanese media NK News. “It is Tokyo’s position that it will extend sanctions, as long as there is no change in Pyongyang’s attitude.”
North Korea’s withdrawal from the Tokyo Games may have dashed South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s hopes that the Olympics would help pave the way for new negotiations between the two Koreas and broader multilateral talks with Japan and the United States. USA.