DPRK Boycotts Daegu Universiade

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, August 18, 2003

DPRK Boycotts Daegu Universiade

The DPRK's abrupt boycott of this month's Summer Universiade in South Korea will likely undermine the successful hosting of the biennial university games, organizers said in Seoul Monday.

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The DPRK's abrupt boycott of this month's Summer Universiade in South Korea will likely undermine the successful hosting of the biennial university games, organizers said in Seoul Monday.

Citing security reasons, the DPRK said earlier Monday it will not send its athletes and officials to the Universiade set to open Thursday at the southeastern provincial city of Daegu for an 11-day run. The DPRK had promised to dispatch a 197-member delegation plus a 303-member cheering squad.

The DPRK said it could not send its athletes to South Korea, calling it "a dangerous place." It protested large-scale anti-communist rally in Seoul last Friday, during which protesters torched a DPRK flag.

The Daegu organizing committee earlier had said that the Universiade would generate an estimated economic effect of 730 billion won (US$619.69 million). The DPRK's boycott could result in cancellation of television broadcasting rights, sponsorships and advertisements, committee officials said.

Over 7,000 athletes from a record 171 countries were expected to take part in the games.

The two Koreas had agreed to let their athletes march together during the opening and closing ceremonies, as in the the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and this year's Winter Asian Games in Aomori, Japan.

The DPRK intention to boycott the games came through its radio broadcasts which quoted a statement by the Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland, a quasi-party organization handling inter-Korean affairs.

It would have been the DPRK's second participation in a sporting event in South Korea, following its entry into last year's Asian Games in the southern port city of Busan. The DPRK sent a 318-member delegation to the Busan games.

Source: Agencies<>

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