The North Korean table tennis silver medalists who shared 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 are from an enemy country, Telegraph reported.
Table tennis partner Ri Jong-sik could face consequences for smiling with gold medalists from China and bronze medalists from South Korea after stepping off the podium.
The picture of the athletes from two warring countries went viral around the world for their moment of sportsmanship.
But not in North Korea, which is ruled by dictator Kim Jong Un.
Since the North Korean team returned home on Aug. 15, it is undergoing a month-long “cleansing” from “exposure to contamination,” Daily NK reported.
Such a “cleansing” is reportedly a three-step ideological assessment process by the country’s sports minister, aimed at ridding the players of any residual influence from “non-socialist” culture.
North Korean athletes have reportedly been given “special instructions” not to interact with South Koreans or other foreign athletes at the Olympics, or face consequences.
If the players have violated the Central Party’s directive, they can be punished, although the punishment was not clear.
When North Korea’s soccer team failed to score in the 2010 World Cup, they were publicly admonished and endured a “six-hour barrage of criticism,” according to the Telegraph.
The team’s coach was relegated to construction work.