N. Korea withdraws from the Summer Universiade in South Korea

North Korea has notified the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade organizing committee of its withdrawal from the competition via e-mail. The Universiade is slated to be held from July 3 to July 14.

“North Korea has sent an e-mail to the organizing committee’s official account at 5:56 p.m. on June 20 to notify that it will not take part in the Universiade,” said the organizing committee on Monday. The e-mail has been sent under the name of Jon Geuk Man, chairman of University Students Sports Association in North Korea, and the recipient was Eric Saintrond, secretary general of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The e-mail stated that the communist regime will not participate in the athletic competition for political reasons over the scheduled opening of the Seoul office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

However, at the request to confirm‍ from the Gwangju Universiade organizing committee, the FISU responded that it has not received an official e-mail to notify its withdrawal from the multi-sport competition. The organizing committee is reportedly figuring out the hidden intention of North Korea with the Ministry of Unification. In March, North Korea has submitted an application to the federation to send a 108-member delegation including 33 officials and 75 athletes at six individual events, such as track and field and two team events including female soccer and handball. As of Sunday, 13,244 athletes and officials from 145 nations have submitted entries.

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