Images of Olympic table tennis players from North and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium in Paris went viral in South Korea on Wednesday, hailed as a rare show of cross-border unity.
Nuclear-armed North Korea declared the South its main enemy earlier this year and tensions between the two countries are at one of their highest points in years.
But after South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in mixed doubles behind China, South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony.
North Koreans Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, South Korean Shin Yu-bin, and victorious Chinese teams Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all teleported to Lim’s phone, a South Korean-made Samsung.
“A selfie with the national flags of Korea and a Samsung phone,” said the widely read daily JongAng Ilbo.
It was the first time that North Korea stood on the Olympic podium since 2016, as it did not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics because of the Covid pandemic.
“I congratulated them when they were introduced as silver medalists,” Lim told Korean media after the awards ceremony.
South Korean broadcasters repeatedly aired videos of the selfie, with many commentators reflecting on the significance of a rare moment of unity.
“This is the true spirit of the Olympics,” said one commentator.
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