North Korean pair team of Ryom/Kim qualify for the Olympics in South Korea (NYT articles)

[Sylvia]

Sad news, it seems like they gave up their spot to Japan [as of Dec. 1, 2017].

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/12/01/2017120101158.html
"According to the Korea Skating Union on Thursday, Ryom Tae-ok, 18, and Kim Ju-sik, 25, had not signed up for the Pyeongchang Olympics as of Oct. 30, the International Skating Union's deadline for Olympic registration for skaters who earned Olympic berths at the Nebelhorn Trophy event in September."

Re-posting the posts of @Doggygirl and @greenapple (in the Japanese news thread) and replying here:

I just wanted to say that I am very sad to read that the North Korean pair team will not be going to Olys... I enjoyed them so much at Worlds in Helsinki

I can't help but wonder why North Korea spent the money for the team to train in Montreal over the summer and then sent them to Nebelhorn to earn a spot, if they never intended to use it. Makes no sense. Hope springs eternal that this situation will change and they will compete at the Games.

I found this Dec. 9th article: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Sp_detail.htm?No=132288

Voice of America has reported that International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met with North Korea's Olympic Committee Chairman Kim Il-guk in Switzerland on Friday [12/8/17].
...
VOA noted the North Korean delegation's visit to Lausanne comes amid reports that the IOC chief was seeking to visit North Korea to discuss the country's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
North Korea qualified for the winter games in the figure skating pairs event but missed the October 30th deadline to confirm whether it would send its team to PyeongChang.
The IOC is encouraging Pyongyang to join the Olympics by providing wild card berths to North Korean athletes and offering to pay all of the North’s expenses if it is willing to take part in the games.

 

[chapis]

Poor guys . The reason is because the games are in Korea?

 

[skatingguy]

Poor guys . The reason is because the games are in Korea?

I think that's the general consensus but I don't believe that there has been any statement from North Korea or the skaters themselves. North Korea boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but no boycott has been announced so far. From the articles I've read the decision to compete is expected to be taken at the last minute, so probably mid-January, and the IOC could allow the North Koreans to compete in the pairs event. There's already 21 pairs so having 22 is not going to be a big deal.

 

[nimi]

Looks like Ryom/Kim might get to skate in S. Korea, after all: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/world/asia/north-korea-kim-jong-un-olympics.html

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, moved Monday to ease his country’s isolation by offering to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, even as he claimed to have accomplished the ability to launch a nuclear missile at the mainland United States.

Mixing the nuclear threat with an overture for easing tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula, Mr. Kim proposed immediate dialogue with South Korea to discuss the North’s participation in the Olympics.

“I am willing to send a delegation and take necessary measures, and I believe that the authorities of the North and South can urgently meet to discuss the matter,” Mr. Kim said in his annual New Year’s Day speech, broadcast on North Korea’s state-run television. “We sincerely hope that the South will successfully host the Olympics.”

Fingers crossed!

 

[Willin]

But will the IOC/ISU allow them to compete when they didn't meet the deadline? And didn't a replacement already get selected? That's my major concern - that this comes too late for them to actually compete. Hopefully they can make some exceptions in this situation.

 

[Sylvia]

But will the IOC/ISU allow them to compete when they didn't meet the deadline?

From the last part of the Dec. 9th article excerpted in post #31:

"The IOC is encouraging Pyongyang to join the Olympics by providing wild card berths to North Korean athletes and offering to pay all of the North’s expenses if it is willing to take part in the games."

 

[Winnipeg]

I heard they may be going on the news this morning

I hope so.

 

[Vagabond]

But will the IOC/ISU allow them to compete when they didn't meet the deadline? And didn't a replacement already get selected? That's my major concern - that this comes too late for them to actually compete. Hopefully they can make some exceptions in this situation.

Your major concern should be whether North Korea will actually allow them to participate. I won't believe it until they have stepped off the ice and there is reliable independent corroboration that they were real and not just computer-generated imagery.

 

[Buzz]

I hope to see them skate I the Olympics. It'll be a shame if they didn't.

 

[kwanfan1818]

If they're in, then with 22 teams, the starting groups will be:
3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 (Group 3 is currently "3", with 21 teams, including South Korea's host spot)

with the later group still 11 teams

• Last group: Top 4 in WS
• Penultimate group: next four in WS
• Group Four: draw for last three spots

The earlier group will draw for:
First spot in Group Four
Either:

• All spots in Groups One-Three, assuming all skaters are ranked* (If not, the NR team(s) skate the earliest, with a draw, if more than one team is not ranked.)

*I've been at at least one event where, when a spot was granted, the host entry skated first in the first group, but I don't see anything in the Special Regs, the original Olympic Qualification doc, or in Communication 2119 (post Nebelhorn doc) that dictates this.

Kim/Kam -- not sure about his citizenship -- and Kim/Kim have the Olympics TES minimums and WS points.

 

[skatingguy]

Or it could just be 21 teams:

Lindsey Graham‏Verified account @LindseyGrahamSC 28m28 minutes ago
Allowing Kim Jong Un’s North Korea to participate in #WinterOlympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet. I’m confident South Korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if North Korea goes to the Winter Olympics, we do not.

With the US government the way that it has been for the past 11 months it's hard to know what to make of this statement. Particularly with regard to North Korea, there have been so many statements made one day, and then undercut the next day. Anyone whose followed the news in recent weeks will have seen that South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a big a supporter of war, has been talking about war with North Korea as increasingly likely and has been more supportive of the president than he had been previously.

 

[Vagabond]

Lindsey Graham‏Verified account @LindseyGrahamSC 28m28 minutes ago
Allowing Kim Jong Un’s North Korea to participate in #WinterOlympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet. I’m confident South Korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if North Korea goes to the Winter Olympics, we do not.

Yeah, right! The U.S. boycotting the Olympic Games in South Korea. That'll go down well, both at home and abroad.

 

[masik]

I heard they may be going on the news this morning

I hope so.

It seems like it's official
https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/m...impijskije_licenzii_Ih_otpustat_v_Pkhenchkhan
(Russian)
It says that North Korean leader announced it during his New Year speech.

 

[Winnipeg]

Great!

 

[Frau Muller]

Yeah, right! The U.S. boycotting the Olympic Games in South Korea. That'll go down well, both at home and abroad.

My $64k Question: If the North Korean pair competes, will it beat the one USA pair?

 

[Bronxfan]

My $64k Question: If the North Korean pair competes, will it beat the one USA pair?

Probably!

 

[Frau Muller]

Probably!

Well, well, well...PDRK vs USA competition on ice could end up being quite the event.

 

[misskarne]

My $64k Question: If the North Korean pair competes, will it beat the one USA pair?

Probably!

Already happened at Nebelhorn. Quite a few of the "little country" pairs beat the US pair there.

 

[Frau Muller]

Already happened at Nebelhorn. Quite a few of the "little country" pairs beat the US pair there.

True. However, there’s no greater sporting stage than the Olympics. Especially now, in light of the rhetoric between these two countries.

 

[jiejie]

I am very confident of 4 things:
1) South Korea will accept or even welcome participation of DPRK athletes. This was all worked out behind the scenes with the IOC/ISU, before the wild card participation and offer to pay expenses was floated. But there will be no unified Korea team in 2018. That's a bridge too far.
2) Short of the Olympics being called off completely, Team USA will be there.
3) Nobody will listen to Lindsay Graham on this matter.
4) If the Kneirems are USFS' choice for the Olympic berth (and short of injury, they will be), they will beat Ryom/Kim.

 

[SidelineSkater]

Actually the US pair at Nebelhorn isn't likely to be the one that would go head to head with the NK team at the Olympics. In their previous matchup at 2017 Worlds, the Knierims beat Ryom/Kim by 30+ points.

 

[seabm7]

Kim/Kam -- not sure about his citizenship -- and Kim/Kim have the Olympics TES minimums and WS points.

The South Korean has only one eligible pair now, Kim/Kam. Kam has the Korean citizenship thorough his parents. Kim/Kim Siblings resolved their partnetship quite recently, and quietly.

 

[Seerek]

South Korean official suggests inter-Korean pair skating team

 

[VGThuy]

South Korean official suggests inter-Korean pair skating team

I'm not sure if that South Korean official understands how difficult pairs skating is that would make that sort of mix and matching to be unwise for very short amount of time left before Pyeongchang.

 

[Vagabond]

I think that both Choi Moon Soon and Lindsey Graham should turn their attention to other things besides winter sports.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I wonder if the official was suggesting a combined North/South Korea team for the Team Event, with the North Korean Pairs team competing in the Pairs SP.

The South Korean has only one eligible pair now, Kim/Kam. Kam has the Korean citizenship thorough his parents. Kim/Kim Siblings resolved their partnetship quite recently, and quietly.

I didn't realize that, since they competed twice early this season. Thank you for the news.

 

[Sylvia]

Ryom/Kim are listed for 4CC as of 1/1/18: http://www.isuresults.com/events/cat03108502.htm

I started a thread in the Politically Incorrect forum for political discussion: North Korea and the Olympics in South Korea

 

[shuilee]

North Korea says likely to join Olympics in South per CBC. Is it too late or Ryom/Kim? I thought ISU gave their spot away?

 

[SmallFairy]

Yes, Norwegian news reports that too. ISU gave the North Korean spot to Japan, but the IOC can give them, and anyone they wish for, a wild card spot. The IOC stands on top and so what they pleases. And I love that on this occasion. Ryom/Kim for Korea!

 

[barbk]

Does the Japanese spot get taken away?