To most observers, it was a testament to the power of sport to bring people together, even if just for a moment, even if they live on opposite sides of one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world.
But one of the most celebrated photos from the Paris Olympics – a selfie taken by table tennis medallists from both sides of the divided Korean peninsula – appears to have landed the two North Koreans in trouble back home.
In a rare moment of Korean-style table tennis diplomacy, South Korean mixed doubles players Lim Jeong-hun and Shin Yu-bin and North Korean pair Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jeong-sik Selfie China's gold medallists Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha also took to the podium after receiving their bronze and silver medals at the South Paris Arena last month. photograph.
One of the photos was posted to the official Olympic Instagram site, where it garnered hundreds of thousands of likes, and People magazine selected it as one of the 12 best moments of sportsmanship from the Paris Olympics.
But media reports this week said Kim Jong Un and Ri were under “ideological surveillance”. Daily NKCiting a senior source in Pyongyang, a Seoul-based website specializing in North Korea reported that athletes and members of the North Korean Olympic Committee have been undergoing a month-long “ideological cleansing” since returning home in mid-August, standard procedure for athletes who have been exposed to life outside the communist country.
The website reported that the country's players had been instructed not to socialise with players from other countries, including South Korea, and had been warned that anyone “growing close ties” could be punished.
According to reports, the table tennis players said the government “Biggest enemy“
The selfie was taken at a time of rising tensions between the two countries after the 1950-53 conflict on the Korean peninsula ended in an armistice but not a peace treaty. North Korea has recently protested joint military exercises between South Korean, U.S. and Japanese militaries, and growing cooperation between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin has caused unrest across the region.
It is unclear what sanctions the table tennis players will face, if any, but The Korea Times suggested it may depend on the players' level of remorse for briefly letting their guard down in Paris.
According to the Korea Times, upon returning from international tournaments, North Korean athletes undergo a three-stage “ideological screening” culminating in a self-reflection session with team members in which they are asked to criticize their teammates' “inappropriate behavior” and reflect on their own actions.
The paper quoted a source as saying that the expression of sincere remorse would spare the players “political or administrative punishment”, but it was unclear what that would entail.
Human Rights Watch said the report “illustrates the North Korean government's efforts to control cross-border activity.”
“The International Olympic Committee has a responsibility to protect athletes from all forms of harassment and abuse, as outlined in the Olympic Charter,” the committee said in a statement. “North Korean athletes should not fear retaliation for their conduct at the Games, including if their actions embody the values of respect and friendship on which the Olympic Movement is founded.”
Kim and Ri won silver medals, but the other athletes were reportedly penalized for lack of ability.
Daily NK cited the example of the North Korean soccer team, who were eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after losing all three of their group stage matches and conceding 12 goals.
The players were reportedly subjected to a severe six-hour reprimand for “betraying” the communist country's ideological struggle, and coach Kim Jeong-hun was forced to work at a construction site.
