South Korea initiated working-level contact with North Korea
last month on the 17th because of their athletes and cheering squad’s
participation in the Asian Games. However, North Korea bowed out of the
meeting, citing a problem with the South’s attitude toward the
negotiations, and thus, the talks were closed without any clear settlement.
Afterwards, both sides continued detailed discussions about
issues with the Incheon Asian Games and North Korea’s participation through
writing. Through this process, the South discovered that there are no issues
with the participation of the North’s athletic delegation to the games.
Moving forward, North Korea notified South Korea, on August
22nd, that they will be sending 273 athletes to the games, which will be
held on September 19th, while also alluding to the comprehensive training the
athletes are undergoing.
Recently, Kim Jong Eun even went directly to a game to vet
male and female athletes for the soccer teams that will participate in the
Incheon Asian Games, showing how invested North Korea is in the
competition.
Daily NK sought to find out how the North Korean national
athletic team participating in the upcoming Asian Games is organized
and managed, by interviewing a North Korean defector and former member of North
Korea’s National Physical Education Organization, Mr. Oh Deok Heung [alias,
defected in 2008].
Daily NK [DNK]: How is the national athletic team that is
going to participate in the Asian Games organized?
Mr. Oh Deok Heung [ODH]: The national athletic team is
composed of people of the greatest talent and ability and are picked from
different physical education organizations. It is organized with the goal of
participating in an international sporting event. The Chosun Committee for
Physical Education selects players one year before the international sporting
event is to take place.
After the athletes are selected from their
organizations, they train, live, and eat together for one year, returning to
their individual organizations after the international sporting event. Because
the national athletic team can consist of athletes that do all kinds of sports
from soccer and boxing to swimming, judo, and archery, they are organized into
what is called the “National Physical Education Collective”, which is located
in Pyongyang City in the Pyeongcheon District.
DNK: Where does the selection process for the national
team’s athletes take place, and which physical education organization are they
selected from?
ODH: The national team’s athletes are selected by the
Chosun Physical Education Committee. Athletes are mainly selected from the 4.25
Physical Education Organization (affiliated with the Ministry of the People’s
Armed Forces), the Pyongyang City Physical Education Organization, the Amrok
[Yalu] River Physical Education Organization (affiliated with security), the
Gigwan Physical Education Organization (affiliated with the railways, and the
Ministry of Railways), the Wolmido Physical Education Organization (affiliated
with the guard command), the Chosun Physical Education University’s Physical
Education Organization, and the Ocean Physical Education Organization, amongst
others.
All of these physical education organizations are in
Pyongyang City, and they pick the country’s most talented young adults, who are
then systematically educated and trained.
DNK: Who coaches the athletes on the national team after
they have been selected?
ODH: The coach comes from the organization where the
most athletes were selected. For example, if the female soccer players that
will participate in the upcoming Asian Games were selected from the Gigwan
Physical Education Organization, their coach from the Gigwan Physical Education
Organization would be the coach that is responsible for the national team. The
coach would also be responsible for the soccer team’s training until the match.
However, the Chosun Physical Education Committee takes care of the general
management of the teams.
In 1990, when the chairman of the Physical Education
Committee, Kim Yoo Soon, became a foreign ambassador, Park Myung Chul took his
place. Park Myung Chul was famous in the 50s and 60s in Japan’s pro-wrestling
circles and is the son-in-law of Yeok Do San (also known as Kim Sil Lak). He
graduated from the Chosun Physical Education University (formerly the Pyongyang
Physical Education University), and has been the National Physical Education
Committee’s director and vice-chairman, as well as the chairman of North
Korea’s Soccer Association.
DNK: Where do the athletes of the national team live?
ODH: The athletes sleep and eat at the Changkwangsan Hotel,
where they are under military-like regulations and strict control. Their food
is different from the regular physical education teams. They get the best food,
including beef, and all their meals are based on a specific diet and calorie
count. You can say that they basically get the best of the best.
DNK: Are the athletes’ songbun [family political background and loyalty] investigated?
ODH: Of course. If there’s even one relative that is of
questionable character, they cannot be selected as an athlete for the national
team, no matter how talented they are. Also, if they have relatives residing
outside of North Korea, they cannot participate in an international sporting
event. There can be an exception if they have participated in an event before
and gotten first place, but those kinds of cases are not common.
DNK: What kind of benefits do they receive if they get first
place at an international sporting event?
ODH: They don’t give the actual prize money to athletes
that win a gold medal at international sporting events. However, and it can
vary depending on what kind of international sporting event it is, but they
give about $5,000 to the first place winners. The actual prize money won at the
event is given directly to North Korea.
Jung Sung Ok, the female marathon gold medalist in the 1999
IAAF World Championships in Athletics, was given a Mercedes-Benz worth $50,000
by Kim Jong Il and was also given the right to reside in Pyongyang City as well
as a house.
DNK: Which physical education organization do athletes
prefer?
ODH: It depends on the individual athlete’s standards and
goals. For example, if an athlete wants to live in Pyongyang, he or she might
want to join the Gigwan Physical Education Organization. If an athlete wants to
be a professional athlete, he or she would want to join the 4.25 Physical Education
Organization.
The 4.25 Physical Education Organization is of a higher
caliber than other organizations and a trailblazer in its own right. The
Organization’s director is raising its status by acquiring the newest physical
education equipment and facilities. However, competent athletes selected from
rural areas prefer the Gigwan Physical Education Organization because, if
selected, they are given the right to live in Pyongyang City. There are many
famous athletes from the Gigwan Physical Education Organization.
The Gigwan Physical Education Organization, affiliated with
the Ministry of Railways, had such a sharp increase in members that they needed
a bigger training field. The field has been newly constructed in the Daedong
River District in front of the YangKakDo Hotel. The Pyongyang City Physical
Education Organization also gives their athletes the right to reside in
Pyongyang after they have retired. Athletes from the 4.25 Physical Education
Organization, Amnok [Yalu] River Physical Education Organization and others, return to
their respective hometowns after retirement.
DNK: When do athletes from the national team retire, and
what benefits do they receive?
ODH: The retirement age for athletes in physical education
organizations is 27 or 28. However, if they have great athletic ability, they
continue their careers until they are about 34. Athletes are given the benefit
of attending the university of their choice after retirement. Different
physical education organizations of different universities secretly compete for
these athletes.
If an athlete wants to coach after retiring from the
national team, they must graduate from the Chosun Physical Education University
to become a national coach. There aren’t many athletes who want to become a
coach after retiring and graduating from the Chosun Physical Education
University. This is because during the Kim Jong Il regime, artists were
preferred over athletes, and thus, were more popular. With Kim Jong Eun’s
regime, however, it seems like athletes are starting to get more attention.
