IOC to facilitate N Korea's participation in 2020 Tokyo Olympics

This is a unified direct full frontal assault on the Japanese warmongering narrative. Right at the heart of pride and vanity. Audacious. I like it.

silly, why do people like to award criminal behavior?

yes!

Uh-oh.... hope all those that were angry at SK for this are ready to direct the same anger towards Japan.

Yeah right, that's not going to happen. It might happen if NK still exists then, but I don't give them more than 18 months. The NK useful idiots around the world have less

Nicely put Daniel. I completely agree.

I hope "facilitate" means allowing them to participate if athletes qualify just as everyone else must do - got a free golden ticket to start adding members to teams who already put in the hard work and sacrifice to properly secure their place.

But if you're gonna let NK participate, why not have an ISIS team, too?

What a win for North Korea! They will definitely participate as North Korea will have its nuclear program ready by then and no one would refuse them!

Japan will counter the NK cheerleader fembots with the AKB48 . Let the kawaii international games begin!

They may certainly need 'facilitating', as they cannot seem to abide by any international or Olympic rules or regulations.

I agree with Yuko Maeda above. By all means allow their earned participation, under exactly the same conditions as everyone else on the planet.

@Yuko Maeda

North Korea qualifies for Summer Olympic events regularly and sends a sizable team in every summer games. It isn't like the Winter Olympic events.

What IOC is talking about is the financial support and the visa support for 200 or so NK cheerleaders.

I have no problems with the NK athletes' participation. They always do. However, I do not agree with the "special exemptions" from UN sanctions as we have seen in this Olympics. High-level delegation members subject to travel ban and asset freeze entering the country. Taking home luxury goods whose import to North Korea is banned. The docking of Mangyongbong (this is a Japanese sanction). Maybe the athletes should realize that their beloved country is being sanctioned.

Sure, why not?

It's not like there isn't any North Korean presence in Japan.

There are schools and even universities in Japan dedicated to the promotion of North Korean ideals and culture (seriously).