Olympic Games
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North Korea at the Olympics
North Korea first competed at the summer Olympic Games in 1972 (they sent athletes to the 1964 Winter Olympics), and has been at all Games since then except when they joined the boycott in 1984 and also boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Some athletes from Korea competed as part of the Japanese teams during their occpation between 1910-1945.
Trivia
- Sohn Kee-Chung became the first Korean to win an Olympic medal, when he won the gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in Sinŭiju, North P'yŏngan Province, which is now part of North Korea. He was competing as a member of the Japanese team, as Korea was part of the Japanese Empire. He competed under the Japanese name Son Kitei.
- In 1998, after failing to be recognised as co-host of the Games, North Korea (which was still technically at war with the South) boycotted the Games.
- In 2000 in Sydney, the North and South Korean teams entered the stadium under one flag.
Related Pages
- see also South Korea at the Olympics
- more trivia from each Country at the Olympic Games
- Seoul Olympics 1998
