By It looks like North Korea is still the Hermit Kingdom even while participating in the Asian Youth Games:
If anyone expected their under-15 football team here for the inaugural Asian Youth Games to be in celebratory mood after the country booked their first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1966, they would have been disappointed.
The Korean boys were the first athletes to arrive here for the Games when they touched down at Changi Airport on Wednesday night, and will take on Thailand at Victoria Junior College tomorrow on the opening day of the football tournament.
On Thursday morning, they were nowhere to be seen at the Swissotel the Stamford, the official Games Village, or at the adjacent Raffles City shopping mall.
While the hotel came to life with the arrival of footballers from various other countries, only one person from the North Korean camp was spotted in the lobby: Team manager Cho Won Cho.
The team from China were there lounging, the Saudi Arabian boys were in relaxed mood.
I asked Jia Xinyao, one of the Chinese footballers, if he had met them and he said: “We ran into them around the hotel, but didn’t speak. They keep to themselves. Anyway, we are confident of beating them.” [Channel News Asia via reader tip]
It makes sense that they keep these kids isolated in order to prevent them from seeing what the modern nation of Singapore is like.
4:31 am on June 21st, 2009 1
I wonder how many North Korean athletes have defected during overseas competitions? Does anybody know off the top of their head? That might be why they are not allowed to leave their rooms.
I don't think China's Jia Xinyao would have gotten much out of the North Korean kids even if he did try speaking to one of them. They don't speak any Chinese and probably don't know enough English to get past "Hello" and "What is your name?" Asking other country's people their names is the shortest conversation in Asia.