DailyNK examines the prospect of a very uncomfortable return for North Korean athletes caught doping during the Olympics

North Korea is likely to severely punish one of its athletes after he tested positive for prohibited drugs at the Beijing Olympics and was stripped of the medals that he had earned.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced publicly on the 15th that North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su has been stripped of his silver and bronze medals, which he won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics men’s 10m pistol and 50m air pistol respectively, after he tested positive for the banned beta-blocker propranolol.

A Daily NK’s reporter met with an affiliate from the North Korean economic department after the International Olympic committee’s announcement in Shenyang, China. He emphasized that “Kim humiliated the country in the Olympics. It is a serious problem that we cannot overlook in the current atmosphere. Even the authorities are outraged by this sudden drug problem.”

The reporter asked the question if Kim Jong Il has mentioned this issue, to which the affiliate replied “I am not sure about that, but North Korea is a target for a lot of criticism from the outside world related to counterfeiting and drugs. From this scandal, we have earned more negativity.”

In South Korea (Via. OFK)

There is controversy over sponsoring North Korean and Sudanese athletes

BEIJING — After Nike Inc. and Adidas AG locked up most of China’s athletes in juicy sponsorship deals, Chinese sportswear brand Erke decided to boldly go where the global giants wouldn’t. It would outfit North Korea’s Olympic team.

But that decision is raising alarms with human-rights activists. And for Erke, working with such an insular nation hasn’t been easy. During the Opening Ceremonies, for instance, the North Koreans refused to wear Erke’s logo for fear it would compete with their country’s Communist red-starred flag.
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ColorChinaPhoto/Newscom
North Korea has medal prospects in sports like weightlifting, soccer and judo.

Erke isn’t the only Chinese brand that has made an alliance with a pariah state’s Olympic delegation in an effort to sell more sportswear at home. And human-rights activists worry that such sponsorships will become a larger trend. The deals by Chinese firms could start “a new race to the bottom — using the pretext of competition — to engage in what is morally wrong,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Human Rights Watch.