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2nd LD: DPRK cancels participation of S.Korea-hosted Summer Universiade

Xinhua, June 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has canceled its participation in the South Korea- hosted Summer Universiade, the organizing committee said Monday.

An official at the Gwangju 2015 Universiade organizing committee said by phone that the DPRK sent an email on June 19 that notified the organizer of its difficulty in joining the summer university sports games set to kick off on July 3 in the city of Gwangju, some 330 km south of Seoul.

The DPRK reportedly cited a political reason which indicated the launch of Seoul office of the United Nations' DPRK human rights affairs scheduled to open Tuesday as its cancellation.

The organizing committee has been discussing with the Unification Ministry about why the DPRK has called off its participation.

Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a press briefing that the Seoul office launch would not be any problem in improving inter-Korean relations, urging the DPRK to cooperate with the UN and the international society to enhance the quality of life of DPRK people.

Lim repeatedly called for the DPRK to come to the dialogue table with South Korea without any preconditions, saying that the South side has consistently encouraged private-sector exchanges and inter-governmental talks.

Pyongyang issued a government statement on June 15, saying that there is no reason not to hold an inter-Korean dialogue if north- south trust and rapprochement mood is formed.

The DPRK said in March that it would send a squad of 108 athletes to the Gwangju Universiade to participate in six individual sports events, including track and field, diving, gymnastics and table tennis, as well as two team events for women like soccer and handball. Endi