North-South Korea podium selfie at Paris Olympics goes viral

South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon (R) takes a selfie picture with his mobile as he celebrates on the podium with : gold medalists China’s Wang Chuqin  Sun Yingsh, silver medalists North Korea’s Ri Jong Sik Kim Kum Yong and teammate Shin Yubin (2nd R) at the Paris Olympics 2024  on July 30, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Images of table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium at the Paris Olympics went viral in South Korea Wednesday, 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.

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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.

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.

South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon (R) takes a selfie picture with his mobile as he celebrates on the podium with : gold medalists China’s Wang Chuqin  Sun Yingsh, silver medalists North Korea’s Ri Jong Sik Kim Kum Yong and teammate Shin Yubin (2nd R) at the Paris Olympics 2024  on July 30, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

“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 it did not send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“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.