Nordkorea deltar i OS – militär ”hotline” öppnas

North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) first participated at the Olympic Games in 1964, appearing only in the Winter Olympic Games that year. Eight years later in 1972, the nation first participated at the Summer Olympic Games. Since then, the nation has appeared in every Summer Games, except when North Korea joined the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics, and when they boycotted the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea. North Korea's attendance at the Winter Games has been infrequent; only seven of the last twelve Games have included a North Korean team. In 2010 a team competed at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. North Korean athletes have won a total of 56 medals, two of which were won at the Winter Games. The National Olympic Committee for North Korea is the Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and was created in 1953 and recognized in 1957. During the 1998-2007 Sunshine Policy era, North Korea and South Korea symbolically marched as one team at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics; but competed separately. Given its poor economy and small size, North Korea's performance is impressive. In 2016, its medal tally rated highly compared to its GDP per capita. Two North Korean figure skaters, Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik, were qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics, but the Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) failed to enter them by the 30 October deadline. If they had participated, the athletes would be allowed to enter South Korea via the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ); normally, crossing the DMZ is not permitted.