▲ A North Korean table tennis official throws a towel at intruding South Korean journalists at ExCeL in London Docklands yesterday (© Yonhap)

As athletes prepare for the upcoming London Olympics, tensions mounted briefly yesterday during a North Korean table-tennis team practice at ExCeL in London Docklands, the venue for the competition that begins on July 28th.

According to Yonhap, trouble flared when a North Korean official became agitated at South Korean journalists trying to take pictures of the North Korean players.

“Don’t shoot,” he is alleged to have shouted, before lobbing a towel at photographers.

"Why can't you Koreans understand Korean language?" he then added, pointing out, "You're not supposed to photograph us before the tournament. If you keep doing this, we will not sit idly by."

The Yonhap report seems to imply that the spat occurred due to the presence of specifically South Korean photographers.

Following the incident, the South Korean reporters apparently protested to organizers that training sessions are open to the press; however, they were ordered to adhere to the North Korean team’s wishes.