"How dare you call us North Korea?" DPRK official sharply cuts off South Korean reporter's question... Press conference erupts even after first gold

[Financial News] The press conference at the weightlifting venue for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games fell silent amid a dispute over the country's official name. Ri Song-gum, the weightlifting star who won the DPRK delegation's first gold medal of the Games, expressed strong displeasure at a South Korean reporter's use of the term "North Korea" and refused to give an interview.
According to a report by Nikkan Sports on the 23rd, the incident occurred at the official press conference for the women's 49kg medalists at the Small and Medium Business Promotion Center in Nagoya, Japan. Ri Song-gum reached the top of the podium after setting a world record with a dominant performance. It was the DPRK's first gold medal at these Asian Games.
But the moment of celebration quickly turned cold after a question from the South Korean media. As a South Korean reporter asked how she felt about winning the Games' first gold medal and used the term "North Korea," an official accompanying the DPRK delegation immediately cut off the question and expressed strong displeasure. Ri Song-gum herself maintained a stern expression and did not say a word in response.
The DPRK delegation's sharp reaction was, to some extent, predictable. Ahead of the Games, the DPRK had maintained an extremely sensitive stance regarding the name of its country. On the 12th, before the opening ceremony, a sports organization affiliated with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, held a press conference locally and strongly urged Japanese media outlets to respect and use the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
In fact, at this year's Nagoya Asian Games, it is difficult to find the name "North Korea" or its English designation, "North Korea." The venue's official announcer also uses the full official name, "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," without exception whenever the DPRK delegation is called.
South Korean reporters, aware of this sensitivity, have also taken particular care to avoid unnecessary friction at press conferences involving DPRK athletes. They have either refrained from using the word "North Korea" altogether or omitted the subject. However, when the term was inadvertently used at the venue that day, it directly provoked the already tense DPRK officials. A place that should have celebrated the emotion of sport ended bitterly, serving only to confirm the still-unbridgeable divide between the two Koreas.


[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter