4 months ago
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NORTH Korean athletes who please Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un could be in line for luxury flats, cars and even fridges.
Cruel punishments for those who perform poorly have been alleged for decades – but on the flip side, medal winners can expect to be treated like royalty on their return.
North Korean champs could be line for lavish homecomingsYURI CORTEZ/AFP/GettyImages
The Supreme Leader has been known to spoil starsSTR/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
The small contingent have picked up a few medals in ParisEPA/MAST IRHAMSome of the totalitarian nation’s star athletes were in 2013 rewarded for dominating their events at the London Games the year prior.
State news agency KCNA reported several athletes moved into luxury homes along the Pothong River, which flows through capital city Pyongyang.
Luxury cars – and even fridges – were also up for grabs for those who performed well, a stark contrast from the sceptre of forced labour for failure.
Gold medallists in London 2012 included Om Yun-chul, An Kum-ae and Kim Un-guk.
Champion weightlifter Om was ecstatic at the time, thanking Jong-un for his “deep-loving care”.
According to KCNA he said: “We sportspersons could exalt the dignity and honour of Songun (military-first) Korea with gold medals in international games thanks to the deep loving care of Kim Jong-un, who has always led us in each match, instilling strength and courage into us.
Long-distance runner Kim Kum-ok was also given a luxury apartment and was reportedly brought to tears.
She told KCNA: “I could hardly enter the flat as every room of the wonderful flat is associated with the profound loving care of the Marshal (Jong-un) and I was deeply touched by the benevolence under the grateful socialist system.
“I keenly realised once again under what profound loving care we are living.”
The North Koreans in Paris haven’t quite reached the heights of London when the country claimed three golds, but with four medal wins a luxury reward upon return could be beckoning.
The small contingent at Paris has won two silvers – one in table tennis and one in diving – and two bronzes – again in diving with another in boxing.
The prospect of a lavish homecoming is a far cry from the punishments alleged to take place for those who fail.
The most infamous case of athlete punishment came after the national football team reached the second round of the 1966 World Cup in England.
The team were said to have gone out drinking after losing to Portugal 5-3 – prompting a horror return home.
Then-leader Kim Il-sung is alleged to have condemned the players to one of North Korea‘s most notorious gulags.
Defector Kang Chol-Hwan claimed to have met them while in the savage Yodok Prison in a book titled The Aquariums of Pyongyang.
More recently, North Korea rebel Kim Hyeong-Soo, who fled the country in 2009, alleged athletes and coaches copped months of hard labour if they disappointed their leader.
Football global governing body FIFA a year later investigated claims the national team was again made to pay for its failures, this time after a 7-0 embarrassment against Portugal at the South Africa World Cup.
They were publicly shamed with the manager forced into construction work, it was reported.
His fate is unknown.
These table tennis silver medallists could be moving into a nice new apartment on their returnAP Photo/Petros Giannakouris
Kim could be keeping a close eye on his athletes – both good and badKorean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
Disastrous performances could land athletes in trouble with the regime, defectors have saidKCNA via REUTERS
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