SEOUL, July 20 (AFP): North Korea's Kim Jong-Un expressed "great expectations" for their athletes at the upcoming Asian Games in the South, state media said Sunday, despite Pyongyang's earlier threat to boycott the event.
The North had announced plans to send athletes and cheerleaders to the Games to be held in Incheon from September 19 to October 4.
But inter-Korea talks on Thursday to coordinate their visit broke down due to disagreement over issues including who was going to shoulder the cost of the trip, prompting Pyongyang to threaten a boycott.
Kim however watched the national football team beat another side 12-0 in a practice match and said their participation in the Asiad would help boost cross-border ties, the state-run KCNA news agency reported.
"The participation of the (North)'s players in the 17th Asian Games offers an important occasion in improving the relations between the North and the South and removing distrust between them," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
"Great are expectations and interest of our people in the Games... it is our principled stand that the inviolable sports should not be a political bargaining chip of the undesirable forces," he was quoted as saying.
The KCNA dispatch however did not address the dispute over the delegation's trip to the South or whether it planned to resume talks with Seoul.
N Korea\\\'s Kim has \\\'great expectations\\\' for Asian Games
FE Team | Published: July 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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