Park Choong Kwon, a member of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party, has voiced concerns that North Korean table tennis players Lee Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong might face severe repercussions for taking selfies with South Korean athletes Lim Jong Hoon and Shin Yu Bin at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Park, who defected from North Korea in 2009 and previously worked on intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development before transitioning to politics in South Korea, suggested that the North Korean players could be subjected to forced labor for two to three years as punishment.
In an interview on South Korea’s YTN radio program News Fighting on Tuesday, Park reflected on the moment when athletes from both Koreas united for a selfie with a Samsung smartphone, calling it “a beautiful sight.”
Park speculated that this brief interaction might have caused cognitive dissonance for the North Korean athletes. “They likely had the opportunity to see that while they were taught South Korea is impoverished and suffering, their actual experience was quite different,” he said.
When asked about potential consequences for the North Korean players, Park warned, “They could face at least two to three years of revolutionary punishment, which involves labor training on farms or other forms of forced labor.”
He elaborated that more severe punishments could include up to ten years of labor re-education or even imprisonment in a political prison camp. Park drew parallels to past incidents, such as the 1966 England World Cup, where North Korean soccer players who mingled with South Korean athletes faced harsh repercussions upon returning home. He suggested that Lee and Kim might face a similar fate.
Park also noted North Korean soccer has suffered since those earlier events, attributing the decline to the Kim regime’s policies. “If these incidents continue, it could deter North Koreans from representing their country in international competitions,” he warned.