DPRK Olympic Committee

While doing some research, I stumbled on this old document on the DPRK’s Olympic Committee.  PDF here.

According to the document:

On 30th May 1952, a few weeks before the celebration of the XVth Olympiad in Helsinki (FIN), the organisers were contacted by the physical culture and sports committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who expressed their desire to become part of the Olympic family. As a preliminary step the IOC called for the creation of an NOC. This requirement was duly complied with in September of the following year. A formal request for recognition arrived at the headquarters of the IOC in March 1956. Provisional recognition was accorded by a session of the IOC convened in Sofia (BUL) in 1957.

At that time the NOC comprised 16 sports federations of which 6, governing respectively basketball, boxing, association football, ice skating, volleyball and table tennis, were already affiliated to an international federation. Right up to 1963, negotiations took place with a view to participation at the Olympic Games of a single, united team made up of North and South Koreans. The solution envisaged was on the lines of that adopted by the two German nations but, despite meetings in Lausanne in January 1963 and in Hong Kong on 17th May and 1st June 1963 the project eventually had to be abandoned. Finally authority was given, by the members of the IOC in session at Baden-Baden, for the two NOCs to be represented by separate teams.

Also, It seems that Kim il Sung Stadium used to be called “Moranbong Stadium” as late as 1980.

Read about the history of the DPRK Olympic Committee here (PDF)

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One Response to “DPRK Olympic Committee”

  1. Mike Madden says:

    Helsinki, again?