North Korea will not take part in the Tokyo Olympics, due to coronavirus concerns, dashing South Korean hopes that the Games could be a catalyst to revive peace talks.
North Korea hasn’t missed a summer Olympics, since it boycotted the 1988 Seoul Games during the Cold War.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in had hoped the two countries, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce - not a peace treaty - could field a combined team in Tokyo and rebuild momentum for improved relations.
The North's withdrawal has also set back Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's plan to pursue a joint Korean bid to host the 2032 Games.
When South Korea hosted the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, Kim sent his sister to head the national delegation, and both teams marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and fielded a combined women's ice hockey team.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose last month, when the North resumed missile tests, although both sides said they wanted to continue dialogue.
South Korea's Unification Ministry says Seoul had hoped the Tokyo Olympics would be a chance to "foster peace and reconciliation", and expressed regret that it could not happen.
The Tokyo Organising Committee will "continue to prepare the best possible stage to welcome athletes from all countries and regions".
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had asked the North Korean organising committee several times for a telephone conference to discuss the coronavirus situation in North Korea, but North Korea had been unable to comply.
"The IOC has not received any official application from the NOC of DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to be released from their obligation to take part in the Olympic Games, according to the Olympic Charter," an IOC spokesperson says.
North Korea's sports ministry says the decision to pull out of Tokyo was made at a meeting of its Olympic committee with Sports Minister Kim Il Guk on March 25.
"The committee decided not to join the 32nd Olympics Games to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus," it says.
North Korea claims it has not had any coronavirus cases.
The March 25 meeting also discussed ways to develop professional sports technologies, earn more medals at international competitions and expand public sports activities over the next five years.
Kim, known to be a fan of US basketball, has expressed a desire to promote professional sports in North Korea.
Reuters
