Lausanne / Switzerland

Following the discussions between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), PyeongChang Olympic Organizing Committee (POCOG), the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (KOR), the IOC President Thomas Bach announced today that a delegation from the DPRK will participate at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Among the decisions, the IOC announced the following: 

  • Figure Skating: The IOC allocated an additional quota place, after the registration deadline had expired, to the qualified figure skating pair (RYOM Tae-ok and KIM Ju-sik) from the NOC of the DPRK.

  • Short Track Speed Skating: The IOC allocated two additional quota places to the NOC of the DPRK in short track speed skating to allow two male athletes (JONG Kwang-bom – 1500m and CHOE Un-song - 500m) to compete at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

The Figure Skating couple Tae-ok Ryom and Ju-Sik Kim obtained a quota for PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games to participate in the Pair Skating event, however the DPRK NOC had not officially confirmed their quota within the deadline. Thanks to the above-mentioned additional IOC allocated quota place, Ryom / Kim are now officially entered for the Pair Skating Short Program competition on February 14, 2018 which will take place in the Gangneung Ice Arena. 

For the two additional quota places in Short Track Speed Skating allocated by the IOC to the DPRK NOC, the North Korean athletes will compete in the Men’s 1500m on February 10 (Kwang-bom Jong) and Men’s 500m (Un-song Choe) on February 20 in the Gangneung Ice Arena.


The ISU is looking forward to a successful PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.