The country has said it will skip the Olympics this summer to “protect players from the global public health crisis caused by Covid-19,” according to a report published Tuesday in North Korean media DPRK Sports, a business website sports.
The decision was made by the DPRK’s Olympic Committee, which held a video conference with commission members and sports officials on March 25 in the capital Pyongyang, DPRK Sports reported.
The games are currently scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8. The Paralympics will follow, between August 24 and September 5.
Organizers were forced to postpone the Olympics for the first time in the history of the event in March 2020 due to the coronvairus pandemic.
Last month, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said that international spectators will be denied entry to Japan due to the prevalence of coronavirus in the country and abroad.