North Korea attends sporting event in South Korea for first time

On August 27, these three athletes went to Korea to participate in sports events organized by the United Nations there.

The sports event called “Young Leaders Program” was launched on August 22 with the participation of 34 students from 19 countries around the world.

North Korean athletes at an international sporting event (photo: aljazeera)

The Young Leaders Program is held annually, starting in 2012 in the capital city of Doha, Qatar, to educate young people about leadership, gender equality and peace. This year, the event took place in Gwangju, 300km south of Seoul, South Korea, with many special sports activities from table tennis, hula hoop and many other types of sports.

This is the first time a North Korean delegation has participated in this event.

A North Korean athlete said: “I learned a lot from the sports event here. There were many programs from peace, environment to gender equality at home…. After learning things here, I will apply them to my country.”

North Korea's first participation in a UN sporting event in South Korea comes as tensions between the two countries are beginning to ease as both North and South Korea have agreed to resume operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which has been suspended since April after North Korea withdrew all of its workers due to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The Young Leaders Program will last until September 3./.

According to VOV - DT