It was a heartwarming moment that captured the Olympic spirit, but North Korea’s table tennis champions may be punished for joining a selfie with their opponents from the South.

Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, who won silver medals, are said to be undergoing “ideological evaluation” along with other athletes who returned from the Paris Games.

The assessment is a standard procedure to “cleanse” the team from “exposure to contamination” abroad, the Daily NK reported.

North Korean athletes were reportedly given “special instructions” not to interact with South Koreans or other foreign athletes in Paris, under threat of repercussions.

Since returning from France, the Olympic team is believed to be in the process of a three-stage ideological assessment process by the country’s ministry of sport.

It is said to last about a month, with the intention of purging any lingering influence of “non-socialist” culture.

  • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Do you want north Korea itself to report these news? Of course reporting them is those that are interested in reporting these news.

    It doesn’t mean that the news are real, but it doesn’t mean that they’re fake either.

    • Antmz22@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I didn’t say it was definitely fake. But it’s certainly not definitely true and that hasn’t stopped almost everyone else here acting like it’s a fact, speaking of…why aren’t you pointing out to them that we shouldn’t necessarily call it fake or real without further analysis?

      If I posted a random article from North Korean news (in collaboration with China or Iran) about something bad with South Korea or the US and the article only cited “anonymous sources”, would the reaction be the same?

      People need to recognize and understand the media/propaganda they are consuming.