North Korea Launches National Winter Games Amidst Olympic Absence

In a move that underlines its isolation on the international sports stage, North Korea has inaugurated its national winter games, as reported by state media. The games began in Samjiyon, a mountain city near the Chinese border, as the nation sits out the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics due to unsuccessful qualification attempts.

Competitions involve more than 50 events across five winter sports, such as ice hockey, figure skating, and skiing. The games spotlight Pyongyang's limited international sports engagement, exacerbated by a temporary suspension from the International Olympic Committee following its absence from the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

North Korea's Winter Olympic legacy includes a silver in women's speed skating in 1964 and bronze in short-track in 1992. Kim Jong Un's regime has been focusing on infrastructural developments in Samjiyon, a region tied to the leader's ambitions for promoting tourism around the politically significant Mount Paektu.