The authoritarian state presents itself as an authority on the games people play
War games, whether in the form of military strategizing or parading nuclear weaponry as a show of force, are not really games at all, which explains why the escalating tension surrounding North Korea has so many in the United States on edge.
Yet they are also playing real games and sports in the world’s most secretive authoritarian state, just a little differently from what we’ re used to in the rest of the world.
Whether it is the North Korean soccer coach being banished to a labor camp, according to multiple news media outlets, or the state newspaper touting details of former leader Kim Jong-il shooting five holes-in-one in his first-ever game of golf, the regime has long used sports as a means to solidify its power.
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Sometimes it is farcical, sometimes frightening and almost always downright bizarre.
A few years back, long before President Trump started getting twitchy about North Korea’s military strength and intent, there was an internet spoof video. It claimed to show the North Korean government had duped its population into believing it had won soccer’s 2014 FIFA World Cup, despite the team having failed to qualify for the tournament and having lost all three games on its most recent appearance in 2010.
It was all quite amusing and could best be described as fake news about fake news, about a country often accused of fake news. Twenty-first century problems, indeed.
Ludicrous as it was, it was also potentially plausible, given that the North Korean regime’s relationship with the truth is far from monogamous, and sports has routinely crossed over into its web of fantasy.
Levity aside, if you’ re a North Korean athlete, you’ d better be a darn good one. North Korea competes at many international sporting events, including the Rio Olympics last year. Once they’ re there, they’ re not allowed to say much, and we don’ t hear much about them again.
At Rio, female gymnast Hong Un-jong warmed hearts and prompted a Twitter storm by posing for a selfie with a competitor from South Korea. Heartbreakingly, female weightlifter Kim Kuk-Hyang cut a distraught figure on the podium after claiming silver, having been one of the athletes expected to win gold by controversial leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s son and successor. Kim Jong-un predicted a haul of 12 medals and at least five golds from Rio. The team returned home with seven medals, two of which were gold.
