North Korean Table Tennis Stars Face Backlash for Podium Selfie

North Korean Table Tennis Stars Risk Punishment for Viral Selfie

A heart­warm­ing self­ie pho­to fea­tur­ing North Kore­an table ten­nis sil­ver medal­ists along­side their South Kore­an and Chi­nese rivals has gone viral, but it could result in dis­ci­pli­nary action for the North Kore­an athletes.

Punishment for “Grinning” with Rivals

North Kore­a’s Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jong-sik are under scruti­ny for smil­ing and inter­act­ing with com­peti­tors from South Korea, an ene­my coun­try. This behav­ior is seen as con­tra­dict­ing the Cen­tral Par­ty’s direc­tives against inter­act­ing with for­eign athletes.

North Korea’s Strict Sports Culture

In North Korea, such dis­plays of sports­man­ship and cama­raderie with for­eign ath­letes are often frowned upon. Ath­letes who fail to adhere to the regime’s strict rules can face severe con­se­quences, includ­ing pub­lic admon­ish­ment and even ban­ish­ment from their sport.

“Cleanse” from “Contamination”

Since return­ing home from the Olympics, the North Kore­an table ten­nis team has report­ed­ly been under­go­ing a month-long “cleanse” from “expo­sure to con­t­a­m­i­na­tion” — a three-stage ide­o­log­i­cal assess­ment process aimed at rid­ding the play­ers of any remain­ing influ­ence of “non-social­ist” culture.

Potential Penalties

If the North Kore­an play­ers are deemed to have con­tra­dict­ed the Cen­tral Par­ty’s direc­tives, they could face penal­ties, though the exact pun­ish­ment remains unclear.

In the past, North Kore­an ath­letes have been pub­licly crit­i­cized and even forced to take on con­struc­tion work as pun­ish­ment for poor performance.