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IOC to reinstate North Korea after suspension from Tokyo 2020 Games

North Korea’s suspension from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), imposed after it missed competing at Tokyo 2020, will be lifted at the end of this year.

The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK NOC) had been banned by the IOC in September last year after it did not turn up to compete at the re-arranged Games in Tokyo.

IOC President Thomas Bach claimed the PRK NOC had breached the Olympic Charter by “failing to fulfil their obligation” to send athletes to compete in the Japanese capital.

North Korea was the only NOC not represented at the Games in Japan, a country it has never formally established diplomatic relations with. 

The suspension meant that North Korea missed the opportunity to compete at this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, which the country under its Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un blamed on “hostile forces”.

The IOC Executive Board has now decided that it will not extend the ban beyond December 31.

“The suspension of the DPRK NOC will end automatically on December 31, 2022,” James Macleod, the director of Olympic Solidarity and NOC relations at the IOC, said.

It means that, barring any more problems, North Korea should be able to compete at Paris 2024. –Insidethegames.com

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