How can north korea be in the olympics

North Korean state television has aired its first coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games - two days after the closing ceremony. According to local news reports, Korean Central Television aired 70 minutes of a women's football match between the UK and Chile this week. The match was actually played weeks earlier on 21 July. North Korea has previously aired the Olympic Games a few days after its opening ceremony, according to Yonhap.

According to specialist site NK News, the women's match was aired without commentary and in low resolution - leaving it unclear how the footage was obtained. It is not clear where they got this year's footage from. But given that the country has been on high alert over COVID, experts say there is little chance that it will reverse its Olympics decision.

North Korean officials know how disastrous a major virus outbreak would be in a nation with public healthcare infrastructure that has been in shambles for decades.

North Korea still officially claims to be coronavirus free, an assertion many foreign experts dispute. The North Korean announcement, three months before the Games begin, could signal that Pyongyang is rejecting a repeated push by Seoul to use the Olympics to create a mood for dialogue. It could also show a determination to boost pressure on the new administration of U.

President Joe Biden. North Korea sent 22 athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, along with government officials, performance artists, journalists and a member all-female cheering group. At the Pyeongchang Games, the North and South Korean athletes jointly marched under a blue map symbolizing a unified Korean Peninsula, while the red-clad North Korean cheerleaders captivated global attention.

Those games were also much about politics. While North Korea has steadfastly claimed to be coronavirus-free, outsiders have expressed doubt about whether the country has escaped the pandemic entirely, given its poor health infrastructure and a porous border it shares with China, its economic lifeline.

Suga, however, did not say if he will invite either of them.