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The Incheon Asian Games will be launched on the 19th of September. North Korea has previously made an agreement with South Korea that they will be sending their athletes along with a team of supporters into Incheon. Recently however, DPRK reported that they will not be dispatching the supporters, but will send only their athletes. Many are wondering why North Korea has suddenly changed its mind regarding the Asian Games.
Political experts have expressed that it may be because the North Korean government does not want to appear as if they are pleading with the South Korean administration regarding their participation in the Asian Games.
Experts pointed to the UFG ("Ulji Freedom Guardian") or the US-Korea joint naval training exercises that will be held very soon in Korean seas. South Korean and American destroyers and other warships will be practicing in preparation for a possible invasion or provocation from the North Korean military. It has been made known that the DPRK has officially condemned these training programs as a threat to peace in Asia and that they are highly disappointed in the South Korean administration for allowing such exercises to happen only weeks before the Asian Games.
Other experts pointed to other factors. Gwang-ho Son, a representative of North Korea's Olympics Committee announced through North Korea's Josun Central TV the experience of negotiating with the South regarding their participation in July. He expressed great frustration at how the South Korean representatives asked so many questions about things such as how large would the North Korean flag which the supporters would be waving be and even regarding potential financial problems. Son asserted that it was the South Koreans' attitude that led to their regime's decision to only dispatch athletes to Incheon.
North Korea was planning to dispatch a team of 350 supporters. But after the initial negotiations, decided to cancel the plan to not appear as if they are somehow disadvantaged in the status quo compared to South Korea. Moojin Yang, a professor and expert on North Korea explained that this was mostly a pride issue.
After Kim Jung-Uun came into power, the new regime began to put heavier emphasis on the importance of sports. National athletes who return with medals will be highly honored. Son shared that the North Korean team is hard to acquire as many gold medals as possible during the Asian Games, the largest athletic event to be held in Asia.
