North Korea Returns to Olympics After Eight-Year Hiatus: What to Expect in Paris 2024

After an eight-year hiatus, North Korea is preparing to return to the Summer Olympics.

North Korea’s Workers’ Party official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on June 21 that the 76th Committee of the National Sports Guidance Committee was held the day before. In the meeting, they discussed the finalization of the committee member’s projects, preparations for major international competitions, and the guarantee of teaching and training conditions during the summer. The newspaper reported that Kim Tok Hun, the Premier who also serves as the chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, emphasized to the executives that they need to “thoroughly study and execute the direction of future projects for the implementation of the party’s sports policy, and promptly identify and address any issues that arise.”

This meeting occurred just over a month before the Paris Olympics, scheduled to open on July 26. It seems to have been organized to prepare for the competition. Notably, North Korea will participate in the Summer Olympics for the first time in eight years.

Previously, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea did not participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed to 2021, resulting in the suspension of its National Olympic Committee (NOC) qualifications until the end of 2022. Consequently, they were unable to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The newspaper reported that “a consultation meeting for workers participating in the 33rd (Paris) Olympic Games was held after the meeting.” It is expected that discussions on the size of the delegation and the travel route were held during the meeting.

North Korea has reportedly secured 14 entries across six events—gymnastics, track and field, boxing, swimming, diving, wrestling, and table tennis—for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The final size of the North Korean national team is expected to be confirmed just before the opening ceremony.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11.