Smiling for photos after winning a medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 is coming to haunt athletes from North Korea. Table tennis silver medallists Kim Kum-yong and Ri Jong-sik can reportedly face disciplinary action from the government for mingling with South Korean athletes, according to the Telegraph. While Kim Kum-yong is under scrutiny for smiling in selfies with athletes from North Korea 's enemy nation, Ri Jong-sik is likely to face punishment for smiling with gold winners from China and Bronze medallists from South Korea after stepping off the podium.
The reports says the athletes are undergoing 'ideological evaluation' for 'grinning' with foreign athletes. The quantum of the punishment, however, was not revealed. Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium in Paris.
😇😇 pic.twitter.com/eVsuwLqOjz — Facts & Wisdom (@FactPoint) July 31, 2024 ALSO SEE: North Korea's Leader Kim Jong Un Weeps Over Plummeting Birth Rates, Urges Women To Have More Children At the Paris Olympics, the heartfelt moments of the athletes went viral and was widely circulated online.
Telegraph reported that the athletes were warned not to interact with foreign athletes at the Olympics, specially those from South Korea. Reports say that all athletes from North Korea, ruled by notorious dictator Kim Jong Un , are undergoing a "cleansing" process to address "exposure to contamination." Contamination in this case is influence of "non-so.