PARIS (AFP) - North Korea has slammed the U.S.-led diplomatic boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Games, state media reported Friday, describing it as an “insult” to the Olympic spirit.
Washington and some of its allies have announced a diplomatic boycott, citing China’s human rights record, in a decision that incensed Beijing.
North Korean Olympic and sports bodies criticized the boycott in a letter to their Chinese counterparts, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
“The U.S. and its vassal forces are getting ever more undisguised in their moves against China aimed at preventing the successful opening of the Olympics,” the letter said, according to KCNA.
Their moves are “an insult to the spirit of the international Olympic Charter”.
North Korea stayed away from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games last year, refusing to send its athletes over COVID-19 concerns.
The International Olympic Committee punished the no-show with a suspension that meant it could not participate in the Beijing Winter Games.
North Korea depicted its absence as the result of the pandemic and “hostile forces”.
The KCNA report did not identify the “hostile forces” and there was no mention of the IOC suspension.
China’s foreign ministry said Friday the North Korean absence was due to “special reasons” and expressed its “full understanding”.