Today's News

June 23 is Olympic Day.

The word Olympics is derived from Olympia of ancient Greece as sports games took place there.

The ancient Olympics were abolished after ancient Rome’s occupation of Greece.

From the latter half of the 19th century, sporting activities were brisk in many countries and exchanges between countries in sports were expanded. So voices calling for forming an international sports organization and systematizing sports games grew stronger.

Accordingly, an international meeting of representatives of the sports sector was held in Paris, France, in June 1894 and decided to hold the first Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 1896.

Then, the International Olympic Committee set June 23, when the modern Olympic Games were initiated, as Olympic Day.

It is aimed at stimulating sporting activities among all people worldwide, irrespective of age, sex and physical ability.

The ideal is also reflected in the Olympic flag, which is patterned with five blue, yellow, black, green and red rings linked with one another, signifying the five continents of the world.

The slogan of the Olympics is “Faster, higher, more powerfully and together”.

The Olympic Games are not merely a sporting competition where sportspersons compete but serve as an international festival that promotes peace and friendship, equality and unity.

The DPRK players have so far achieved good results in the Olympic Games since the 20th round of the competition in which they took part for the first time.

Among them are Kim Il and Rim Jong Sim, twice Olympic gold medallists, and Kye Sun Hui, a four-time world judo champion.

The DPRK has conducted various activities to mark Olympic Day.

They include seminars, photo exhibitions and forums aimed at raising public awareness of the Olympic ideal and values among sportspersons, students, schoolchildren and working people and meetings with winners of the Olympic Games.

For the development of the Olympic movement, our Olympic committee keeps close contact with the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia and is expanding cooperation with the national Olympic committees of different countries.