The North Korean table-tennis silver medalists who practiced some selfie love with the competition at the Paris Olympics could face disciplinary action for “grinning” from the podium.
North Korea’s Kim Kum-yong is under scrutiny for smiling in a victory photo next to South Korean athletes, who hail from an enemy country, the Telegraph reported.
Table-tennis partner Ri Jong-sik could face consequences for smiling with the gold medal winners from China and bronze medal winners from South Korea after stepping off the podium.
The photo of the athletes from two warring countries went viral around the world for its moment of sportsmanship.
But not in North Korea, which is helmed by dictator Kim Jong Un.
Since arriving home on Aug. 15, the North Korean team is undergoing a month-long “cleanse” from “exposure to contamination,” the Daily NK reported.
Such a “cleanse” is reportedly a three-stage ideological assessment process by the country’s ministry of sport, targeted at ridding the players of any remaining influence of “non-socialist” culture.
North Korean athletes were reportedly given “special instructions” not to interact with South Koreans or other foreign athletes at the Olympics, or face consequences.
If the players have contradicted the Central Party’s directives, they could be penalized, though the punishment wasn’t clear.
When North Korea’s football team failed to score a goal at the World Cup in 2010, they were publicly admonished and had to bear a “six-hour barrage of criticism,” according to the Telegraph.
The team’s coach was banished to construction work.
