North Korea at the Winter Olympics
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, first attended the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria (they did not participate in the Summer Olympics until 1972). North Korea's attendance at the Winter Games has been sporadic. They have attended in 1964, 1972, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2018.
Although the nation has been plagued with poverty, the country has still managed to win a couple of medals.
In 1964 as Han Pil-hwa became the first Winter Olympic medalist in both Koreas (South Korea won its first medals in 1992 beginning with Kim Ki-hoon). Pil-hwa won a silver medal in the women’s 3000m event in speed skating.
Hwang Ok-Si secured the nation’s second medal at the Winter Games by winning the bronze medal in the women’s 500m event in the short track speed skating in Albertville, France in 1992.
At the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang in South Korea, The team from North Korea marched under one flag with South Korea during the opening ceremony, and a Unified Korea women's ice hockey team competed under a separate IOC country code designation (COR).
North Korea has been banned from competing at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games after the country's National Olympic Committee was suspended following its no-show at Tokyo 2020.
Related Pages
- About Sport in North Korea
- North Korea at the Summer Olympics
- South Korea at the Winter Olympics
- More Winter Olympics Countries
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