North-South Korea Olympic podium selfie goes viral

Bronze medalists South Korea's Lim Jonghoon (right) takes a selfie picture with his mobile as he celebrates on the podium with gold medalists China's Wang Chuqin (rear second left) and China's Sun Yingsha (front second left), silver medalists North Korea's Ri Jong Sik (left), and North Korea's Kim Kum Yong (front second left) and bronze medallist and teammate South Korea's Shin Yubin (second right) at the end of their mixed table tennis doubles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the South Paris Arena in Paris on Jul 30, 2024. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

SEOUL: Images of Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium in Paris went viral in South Korea on Wednesday (Jul 31), hailed as a rare show of cross-border unity.

Nuclear-armed North Korea declared the South its principal enemy earlier this year and tensions between the two countries are at one of their highest points in years.

But after South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in the mixed doubles behind China, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony.

Bronze medalists South Korea's Lim Jonghoon (left) takes a selfie picture with his mobile as he celebrates on the podium with gold medalists China's Wang Chuqin (rear right) and China's Sun Yingsha (front left), silver medalists North Korea's Ri Jong Sik (second left), and North Korea's Kim Kum Yong (centre) and bronze medallist and teammate South Korea's Shin Yubin (rear right) at the end of their mixed table tennis doubles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the South Paris Arena in Paris on Jul 30, 2024. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

(Clockwise from top left) Silver medalists North Korea's Ri Jong Sik, and North Korea's Kim Kum Yong, gold medalists China's Wang Chuqin and China's Sun Yingsha, bronze medalists South Korea's Shin Yubin and South Korea's Lim Jonghoon celebrate on the podium at the end of their mixed table tennis doubles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the South Paris Arena in Paris on Jul 30, 2024. (Photo: AFP/Wang Zhao)

North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the South's Shin Yu-bin and the victorious Chinese team Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all beamed into Lim's phone, a South Korean-made Samsung.

"A selfie with both Koreas' national flags and a Samsung phone," said the widely read daily JongAng Ilbo.

It was the first time North Korea had been on an Olympic podium since 2016, as they did not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics because of the Covid pandemic.

"I congratulated them when they were introduced as Silver medallists," Lim told Korean media after the award ceremony.

South Korean broadcasters have repeatedly run videos of the selfie, with many commentators reflecting on the significance of a rare moment of unity.

"This is the true spirit of the Olympics," one commentator said.

This article was originally published on Channel NewsAsia, CNA Online News. Its inclusion on this website is solely for education purposes.