North Korea has failed to secure berths for the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics and is stoking enthusiasm for winter sports by holding a nationwide winter sports festival.
Korean Central News Agency said on the 5th that the opening ceremony of the "2026 National Winter Sports Games" was held the previous day at the ice hockey arena in the sports village of the Paektusan district in Samjiyon, Ryanggang Province.
The outlet said the event features competitions in five sports, including ice hockey, figure skating, and skiing, with more than 50 sub-events. The opening speaker that day noted it would be "an opportunity to raise the skills of winter sports to the next level."
North Korea's last appearance at the Winter Olympics was the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. At the time, North Korea sent 22 athletes in five sports, including 12 members of a joint inter-Korean women's ice hockey team.
It then skipped the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics citing the spread of COVID-19, and, after losing its National Olympic Committee (NOC) status until the end of 2022 due to International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctions, it was unable to take part in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
North Korea also failed to field a delegation for the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. In figure skating, a discipline it has touted as a strength, the pair of Ryom Dae-ok and Han Gum-chol reportedly failed to secure a berth. They also did not place in the top ranks at a qualifying tournament held in September last year, which served as an additional qualifier, and thus did not obtain a spot.